Sparks and Plasma
by organized disorder
Summary: Movieverse. A year after Mission City, Ironhide and Chromia gain their sparks' desire and chaos ensues. Chapter 50: Bumblebee gets a surprise, and Nightfire gets her playmate.
1. Sparkling

AN: ...Right. After lurking in this fandom, I've decided to give this a shot. Much much love to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me nab a few of their ideas, seriously, go read their stuff, okay?

This takes place a year and a half after Mission City in the movie. And what can I say...Daddy Ironhide amuses me greatly. Also, I read someplace a megacyle is TF equiv of an hour.

Also: Nightfire belongs to me-and I don't own TF.

* * *

**Sparks and Plasma**

**_Sparkling_**

For all intents and purposes, it seemed to be a normal day as possible on the Ark. Well, as normal as possible when the massive ship was hidden beneath the Nevada desert and its occupants currently working on expanding their living quarters. Permission had been given from the U.S. government for the Autobots to build a base in addition to having the Ark, and so the newly dubbed 'Autobot City' was currently under construction. But for Ratchet, all that mattered was getting his medical labs in order. To that end, any Autobot who wanted to stay in one piece kept far away from the medical wing.

Very far away.

* * *

"Perceptor! Where in the Pit did you put the stockpile reports!" The white-yellow Autobot winced at the sound of Ratchet's bellow, opting instead to duck behind a cupboard. Red Alert gave out a crack of laughter, poking at Perceptor with a foot.

"Your master summons you."

"Depart at once you fiend!" The scientist Autobot hissed back. "I have no desire to be caught by that medical manic!"

"PERCEPTOR!"

"Well, you have to admit, getting the labs and everything in order has put him on a tear." Red Alert said thoughtfully. "But if it makes you feel any better, First Aid and Wheeljack responded to the last communication and are en route. So he'll have another whipping 'bot soon enough."

**"PERCEPTOR!"** Red Alert rolled his optics, holding out a red and white hand.

"Give them to me and I'll go and diffuse him for you."

"You have my eternal gratitude." Perceptor gratefully responded. He subspaced several chips and gave them to the medic. "Now if anyone needs me, I believe I heard something about a chemical scare on my radio." Mechanics clicked and hummed as he turned into his alt mode, a HAZMAT van before speeding out of the room and down the hallway. Red Alert shook his head, subspacing the chips again before shuddering into his own alt mode, a red ambulance. Gunning his engine, he took off, sirens blasting away.

* * *

Chromia couldn't help herself, she cast her optics left and right as she approached Ratchet's office. Bad enough that well…the yellow Autobot had all but re-earned his nickname of 'Hatchet' over the past several orns, but what she wanted to talk to him about…well…

_It is official. I have been around humans entirely too much. _Chromia gave herself a little shake. What she wanted to ask Ratchet about…well, more specifically request him to do was normal, and it was something her spark had been yearning for ever since she had bonded with Ironhide. So why was she so agitated? Steeling herself, she entered the office, struggling not to raise an eye ridge at the amount of chaos that was present. Chips, papers, medical tools and other items were all over the place, and in the middle of it all…

"-fraggin little Unicron-spawned bit-brained, aft-headed little…"

Was Ratchet, muttering like a demon. Chromia cleared her vocalizer.

"Ratchet?" The yellow Autobot looked up from his work, blinking blue optics.

"Oh? Chromia. Is something the matter?"

"I would…" Blast it to Pit and back, here she was getting agitated again! "I need to request something of you."

"Join the line." Ratchet snapped. "Wheeljack saw fit to transmit me a 'wish list' of the items he wants in _his_ labs, Perceptor's- since the human word adequately describes him- nerdy aft has gone into hiding someplace, Red Alert's ducking his shifts, if I see those Pit-spawned twins ONE more time I will offline them, that bit-brain you call a sparkmate is-"

"I want you to make a body for a sparkling." Chromia kept herself from fidgeting as Ratchet ground to a halt, dead silence filling the room. Ratchet didn't reply, but just blinked his optics and stared at her.

"…Come again?"

"I want you to make a body for a sparkling." The silver-blue femme replied. The CMO blinked again.

"And who pray tell is creating said sparkling?"

"Ironhide and I. We want a sparkling." _Primus, has he lost CPU functions or something?_ Chromia thought in annoyance. "Things are quiet enough now and just…" She trailed off. "He and I want a family. We kept putting it off on Cybertron because of the war, but since it seems as long as we're around, the Decepticons will also exist, and so why not? We got a second chance to be together, and we both want to make the most of it." Again no response and Ratchet was still staring at her.

"You."

"Yes."

"And Ironhide."

"…Yes."

"…Making a little spark?"

"Oh for the love of Primus, all you have to do is create the body and bring it online!" Chromia snapped. "Leave the spark-making to us!"

"GAH! MY PROCESSORS! I DIDN'T NEED THAT MENTAL HOLOGRAM!"

"YOU PIT-SLAGGING SON OF A GLITCH! I ASK YOU FOR ONE SIMPLE FAVOR AND YOU GO ON THE FRITZ!" Ratchet threw out his hands.

"No no no, I understand but…Ironhide?!" He spluttered out. "You want him to pass on his depraved processes to the next generation?!"

"What is wrong with Ironhide's processes? They're just fine!" Chromia protested. Ratchet moaned and dropped his head onto his desk.

"Primus save us. We still can't figure out what you see in him, still can't process the fact you sparkbonded with him, and now you want to **reproduce **with him?!" The female Autobot bristled.

"See here, you piece of-" A hand went up.

"Stop." The CMO rose, a small smile on his faceplate. "All jokes and arguments aside…you and him are sure you want to do this?" Chromia nodded.

"Yes. We do." Ratchet sighed.

"Primus, I hope the little one takes after you. Please make sure it takes after you." Chromia giggled, shaking her head at that. "I'll be honest though. I may not have enough metal to make a proper frame."

"That's alright." The femme responded. "If you could just make it tall enough to hit our knees… and since sparklings don't move around much anyway on their own power, we can wait until you have enough supplies to build a proper body." Ratchet nodded.

"We should be having some incoming…if not with this group, the next set of arrivals. I have just enough for your little bundle of joy here." He made shooing motions with his hands. "Out. Give me two orns to prepare the frame. You and Ironhide…" He shuddered. "Primus. Just bring it to me."

"Thank you Ratchet." Chromia replied, her optics gleaming with unspoken emotions. "You don't know how much this means to Ironhide and I."

"It's no problem." The femme turned to leave, but jerked back around.

"Oh! Could we err..keep this…"

"I have no desire to broadcast it all over the Ark that I'm helping create Ironhide's spawn." The medic ducked as Chromia threw a tool at him. "If anything, he wants to spring it on Prime after the deed is done." Another shudder. Chromia couldn't resist, she broke into gales of laughter and left the office. Another smile twitched Ratchet's faceplate, the idea of a little sparkling…

_Optimus__ was right. There is hope after all._

* * *

It hadn't been hard assembling the sparkling's first body. Ratchet had felt a thrill of excitement as he'd worked on putting it together, he'd been privy to 'first onlines' before and even helped in making a youngling's frame, but this… What even made it more special was that this little youngling would be the first of a new generation, one that many Autobots had feared that might not ever come into being. Even better was the hope that- Primus forbid if the Decepticons ever found out- that maybe a miracle like this could heal the rift between the two factions of Transformers, or at the most, start the process.

_In this case though, considering one of __it's__' creators, pray it doesn't grow up with a taste for blasting everything in sight. _Ironhide had a very deep fondness for blowing Decepticons to bits with the twin monsters he equipped, Primus help the Autobots if his sparkling took after him in that regard.

The chassis was ready in two orns- days for humans- as he had promised, light glinting off the dark-blue that was the paintjob. Chromia and Ironhide hadn't gotten specific about the color they wanted their youngling to be, and Ratchet had settled for a compromise between the two sparkmates' colors. The other Autobots were currently away from the Ark- well, to be more specific, keeping an eye on the shipment of supplies that had been thoughtfully provided by the U.S. Government in the construction of Autobot City, and it hadn't been hard for the trio to make up excuses to stay behind.

* * *

"Ratchet?" The yellow Autobot turned, Ironhide and Chromia were standing in the door, Chromia gently cradling something wrapped in a metallic blanket. "Ah, we're…"

"Inside." The CMO ordered. However he couldn't keep the smirk off his faceplates as Ironhide approached. "Ironhide."

"Stop smirking, son of a glitch." The weapons specialist rumbled. Ratchet fought for an impassive expression.

"I'm not. I just find myself very proud that you're starting to take on such a massive responsibility. Not many mechs your age are willing to-" A growl and Ratchet found himself staring at the business end of one of his friend's massive cannons.

"Ironhide!" Chromia snapped. "Stop that."

"Any more of your snark medic, and I will…"

"Why don't you see if the body is to your liking." Ratchet interrupted, gently removing the blanket from Chromia's hands. "And then we'll start."

"It's just fine." The femme replied. Ironhide gave a curt nod, his optics never leaving the precious bundle in his friend's hands. Ratchet bobbed his head in reply, gently setting the blanket down on a side table and unfolding it.

"Here we go." He murmured, blinking at the small blue flashes the spark was giving off. "Let's just get you in here…" He moved over to the newly-created frame, opening the chest panel to reveal an open pump box with an empty spark chamber. With a delicate touch he gently removed the spark from the blanket, intending to insert it in…

And all but jumped out of his armor when the spark practically leapt from his fingers into its new home, wires and tubing wrapping around it, fusing into the metal shard. The chamber box slammed shut, leaving Ratchet staring at the innards of the pump box.

"Primus!"

"What? What is it?" Ironhide snapped. "Did something happen?"

"Is it-" Chromia got out fearfully.

"No no, everything's fine." Ratchet chuckled. _Little one, you can't wait to come online, can you? _"Someone's taking after her father already."

"Her?" Ironhide and Chromia said at the same time.

"Yes. Congratulations, you have a little femme on your hands." _I was able to tell that much before it went flying into the spark-chamber. And Primus, I'm probably going to have a full med bay once the news finally breaks, Ironhide, half creator of a femme sparkling? _Ratchet bit back another grin as he closed the pump box, turning his attention to the recharge bed's computer to bring the little sparkling's systems online. The programs responded instantly, lights flickering and then flashing in the little 'bot's circuits as core systems booted up and started to function. Closing the chest panel, Ratchet quietly stepped to the side as the concerned parents crowded in, three sets of blue optics locked on the slowly twitching body.

"Sparkling?" Chromia whispered. Tiny fingers twitched, and optic shutters moved slightly before lifting, revealing another pair of blue orbs. Processing the somewhat-familiar sound, the sparkling turned to the femme, releasing several quiet clicks from its voice capticator. That was enough for Chromia, who all but melted into a parental puddle. Ironhide on the other hand was simply staring at the baby, awe all over his faceplates.

"Hey…" He said, reaching out one hand. Chroma did the same, and the sparkling gently rested her head in the curve, clicking again and looking up at her 'mother'. "Hey…you…" Ratchet felt his own spark lurch and his optics threatening to release fluid at the image of the newly-formed family before him.

"Ratchet?" Chromia's voice, now husky with emotion. "Is she…" The CMO gave himself a little shake, and then stepped forward, scanning the sparkling.

"Everything reads all green." He said. The sparkling blinked its optics at him, and then crawled into Chromia's arms, seeking the sound of her pump. "She'll let you know when she's hungry or sleepy-but you can't just call her 'sparkling' all the time."

"Nightfire." Chromia murmured, shooting Ironhide a glance. "Let's call her Nightfire, 'Hide." The black mech nodded, holding out one hand and letting the sparkling grab it, clicking.

"Hi Nightfire." He whispered. The sparkling clicked at him, snuggling more into Chromia. "You're a small one, aren't ya?"

"I'll just leave you be." Ratchet murmured. He made to duck into his office, but was suddenly stopped by an arm on his shoulder joint. "Ironhide? What is…" The weapons specialist stopped, trying to phrase what he wanted to say.

"I…I…" The CMO shook his head.

"It was my pleasure." He gave Ironhide a clap on the shoulder. "You go enjoy your family. Make sure you hold little Nightfire, she needs to bond with you so she knows you're her creator as well." The black mech nodded, turning away to face Chromia, who was cooing at the clicking sparkling. Gratefully Ratchet ducked back into his office, pausing only to wipe away some fluid that had suddenly appeared at his optics, and wouldn't stop…

_Primus…thank you_Seeing that little sparkling online had lifted some sort of weight inside him, and for the first time in a long time, Ratchet felt that he could truly hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict that had torn their species apart. And there wasn't anyone around to mock his sudden weakness…

* * *

Several megacycles passed, and Ratchet found himself elbow deep in gathering information that Ironhide and Chromia could find useful to help with their sparkling, in addition trying to anticipate any problems that could result of the Earth-powered energon the Autobots now used as fuel. The little sparkling's diet would consist entirely of energon (Low-Grade of course) until her processor could handle Earth fuels safely. Not to mention he'd have to install more firewalls and guards against Nightfire downloading too much information from the Internet, sparklings and younglings could only handle so much data at one time.

"Ninety-nine cubes of Energon on the wall-"

Ratchet spit out his own Energon.

"Ninety-nine cubes of Energon-"

"PRIMUS!"

"You take one down, you pass it around, ninety-eight cubes of Energon on the wall!"

_The Twins!_ Ratchet tore out of his seat, out the door and down the hallway to the main entrance, loud cursing and laughter filling his audio sensors. _Blast them to Pit and back, if they wake up the sparkling-_ Another crash and now a small explosion.

"…hic…damn, Sunny! Watch where you point that thing!"

"hic…hich..my bad, Jazz."

"The lot of you be quiet right now!" Ratchet snarled, stopping in the doorway. Several pairs of bleary optics looked his way, Optimus was supporting a very limp Jazz, Prowl was poking a giggling Sidewipe with his gun, Sunstreaker had opted to sprawl out on the floor and was looking at the CMO upside down, Bluestreak and Hound were propped against each other snorting…all of them save for the Autobot leader were clearly very much overenergized.

"Was up, 'Hatchet?" Jazz greeted the yellow Autobot cheerfully. "Pit of a party man, Pit of a party…"

"Silence!" The medic hissed, hearing the familiar footfalls of a certain weapons specialist behind him. "All of you, go dump yourselves into recharge right now! Prime, I need to-"

"NINETY-EIGHT CUBES OF ENERGON ON THE WALL, NINETY EIGHT CUBES OF ENERGON-"

"NO!"

"YOU TAKE ONE DOWN, YOU PASS IT AROUND-"

"WHAT IN THE PIT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Ironhide had arrived.

"NINETY-SEVEN CUBES OF EN-"

**"AAAAAHHHHHH!!"** The scream had every single Autobot ducking for cover or whipping out weapons, Ironhide had turned tail and was tearing down the hallway, Ratchet close behind. **"AHHAAAHHHH!!"**

In the rec room, Chromia was struggling to soothe an upset Nightfire, who was screaming and wriggling in her 'mother's grip. The Twins' boisterous singing had awoken her out of recharge far too early, and she was making her displeasure known.

"Nightfire, little one…" The sparkling wriggled, screaming harder, optics shut and fluid trickling down her faceplate. "Nightfire, shh…" A pair of black armored-hands plucked her out of Chromia's grip, and the sparking screamed again.

"Hush baby, Ironhide's here…" The weapons specialist crooned. The familiar voice and pump-beat snapped Nightfire out of her temper tantrum and she looked up at her 'father' with wet optics. "Sssh. There, see? It's all quiet now."

"Thank Primus." Ratchet muttered, running his own scans. "I'm sorry 'Hide. That lot came in and I couldn't get them to shut up…"

"Ratchet, what was that noise?" Heavy footfalls, and then Optimus Prime entered the room. "That sounded like a…" His optics widened and his voice trailed off at the foursome, Ironhide giving back a dark-blue bundle of wires and metal to Chromia, little blue optics blinked at him before settling back into the femme's arms, and the sound of clicking was heard. Chromia looked halfway between concerned and angry, Ratchet was worried, and Ironhide… Prime found himself stepping back as his friend onlined his twin plasma cannons."'Hide?" And to top off the situation, a overenergized Sunstreaker wobbled up, propped himself against the door, and squinted green optics at the bundle in Chromia's arms.

"…the frag is that piece of scrap?" Ratchet's own optics widened.

"IRONHIDE, NO!"


	2. Aftermath

AN: Omg, I didn't think I'd get such a good response. Thank you for the wonderful reviews, but as I said before, a ton of the credit goes to Karategal and MoonlessNight.

JML, thank you for pointing out that error to me. Considering that I've started with it though, I might as well keep it. Forgive me my minor goof, and I am keeping a better eye on my spelling.

* * *

**_Aftermath_**

It had possibly been the greatest party ever recorded in Autobot lore. Everyone including Prowl and Sunstreaker had been all smiles, the Energon had been top of the line and following freely…even their human counterparts had gotten in on the fun, Jazz's processors could dimly remember a drunken Epps belting out 'Trapped in the Closet' with Sam, and at some point there _had_ been a drinking game. To what the First Lieutenant could not remember, but apparently some high-ranking official in the U.S. government had been giving a speech on the television inside the bar, five breems later it had been hooked up to the Autobot-sized screen, and then the game had taken off.

Megacyles later, he'd been hitching a ride on Prime's back…how in the Pit had his friend avoided getting drunk was beyond his CPU processing, even _Prowl_ had been staggering. Hound and Bluestreak had kept trying to transform back into the alt modes but failing miserably, Sunstreaker and Sidewipe had been going on about energon cubes on the wall…and at another point, he remembered telling Ratchet 'Pit of a party man, Pit of a party…'

Then Prime had suddenly dropped him and ran off someplace…and there'd been an explosion. A strangled electronic groan came from Jazz's voice capacitor as his systems snapped back online, every chip in his body _hurt. _

"arargggghhh…" The light was too bright, too brutal…not even his visor could deflect it. In a desperate attempt to get away from the brightness and to nurse his wounded….whatever, the silver Autobot fell off the recharge bed, gladly crawling into the darkness underneath. "Ahh…" Much better. Jazz purred, halfway into recharge as he curled up. Just a megacycle or two and he'd be all set to go…

However, his bliss was soon interrupted by four bright-as-daylight-itself halogen lamps at full blast into his hiding space. Jazz jerked, and slammed his head directly into the underside of the recharge bed.

"MOTH-!"

* * *

Ratchet sighed, pushing himself up with his hands on his knees from his position next to the recharge bed.

"Get up, you." He barked, aiming a foot at a silver aft that had decided to poke itself out on the side, and ignoring the vile profanities about his creation that resulted. "I don't have the time to deal with your hangovers. Out of my bay!"

"BOOTLEG!"

"Aren't we all? OUT."

"Frag you!" This had Ratchet raising his eye ridges.

"Frag me?" He repeated, going for the big guns, the blades on his right arm starting to activate as he knelt back down and took aim at a silver leg. "Frag you!"

"AAAH! I'M OUT, I'M OUT! SON OF A GLITCH!"

"Same to you too." Ratchet growled. Primus, he wasn't in the mood for any pranks today. Thanks to the events of last night, he'd gotten at least one megacycle of recharge, no, he'd had to deal with Ironhide going on the fritz after Sunstreaker had made that unfortunate comment about Nightfire, with Sunstreaker getting the living slag pounded out of him, Sideswipe jumping into the fight to defend his brother, Hound had tried to be helpful with his holograms but that had only earned him one Pit of a blast upside his cranium, Bluestreak had almost off-lined laughing, Prowl had only plopped down on his aft and watched the show, Jazz had been crackling something about 'lugnuts getting removed' when he'd come back to check on him and Prime…

Unable to stop the three-way Great War going on between the Twins and Ironhide…Prime had gone ballistic. And of course, Nightfire had gotten upset and kept crying throughout the whole mess.

The end result?

Ironhide, Sunstreaker and Sidewipe in the brig. With Ironhide ultimately having to be offlined by Ratchet and Prime combined, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe sleeping off all the Energon they'd consumed…after Sunstreaker had seen fit to expel the contents of his tanks all over the medbay.

Prime? Deep in recharge after all the energy expanded on going ballistic on his friend and the Twins. Talk about a fight for Autobot legends…

And Ratchet? Stuck banging out dents, cleaning up Energon, reliving a distressed Chromia for 'sparkling-soothing' duty and assuring her that everything would be alright, trying to get an even more upset Nightfire back into recharge…cleaning up even _more _Energon when the sparkling's systems caved to the stress and she ejected the contents of own tank.

Primus help him, when he'd finally, finally, _finally_ been able to slip into recharge...it hadn't been long enough. He was awoken by the surprised yelps of Red Alert and Perceptor over the destroyed main hall, the number of Autobots in the med bay…and oh yes, the Twins and Ironhide in the brig.

At least Nightfire had finally slipped into recharge, and was happily snoozing away with her exhausted 'mother'.

"Primus, grant me the strength to deal with stupid-aft 'bots…"

* * *

Ironhide had stuck his hands underneath his head, idly looking up at the ceiling. His armor sported some champion-size dents, but it wasn't every orn that one got to hand Sunstreaker his aft on a silver platter, and the old mech took a great deal of pride in his work. Let alone showing the second Pit-spawned Twin who was who as well…

"Ow…" Blue optics narrowed, and Ironhide slammed one massive hand against the wall. "Gaahh!! My CPU!"

"Shut it, punk." The black mech rumbled. "Bad enough you insulted my sparkling." On the other side, Sunstreaker who was about to retort, stopped dead.

"…Wha?" Sideswipe who was in the cell across from his twin, sat up.

"Sparkling? I thought those didn't exist anymore."

"They do now." Ironhide grunted in reply, sitting up. "Fragger there insulted Nightfire."

"Who the FRAG is Nightfire?" Sunstreaker sat up, snarling at the dents in his yellow armor. "And you Pit-fraggin son of a glitch, you've wrecked my paintjob!"

"Ain't gonna be the only thing I wreck when I'm done with you!" Ironhide snarled, now sitting back up and scanning the wall.

_Sunny, chill!_ Trilled Sideswipe's voice in his twin's mind. _He's madder than Pit right now!_

_Like Pit I will! __I- _Sunstreaker trailed off at the sound of footsteps, and then Chromia appeared with a tiny bundle of dark-blue in her arms.

"Ironhide?" She called softly. "'Hide?"

"Chromia!" The weapons specialist exclaimed, making sure to keep his voice down. "Did something happen?"

"No, no, everything's fine…finally." The silver-blue mech responded. She gently shifted the sleeping sparkling in her arms. "I just wanted to see you and bring you anything if you needed."

"I know what I need right here." Ironhide responded, reaching out though the energy bars and gently stroking the top of Nightfire's head with one finger. "Aww, all tuckered out."

"She's had quite the night." Chromia replied with a smile in her voice. "And…oh!" She giggled at the twins, Sunstreaker's jaw was hanging open and Sideswipe was staring at the sparkling as if it had grown two heads. "What? You two are acting like you've never seen a sparkling before."

"Gah…gah…gah…"

"The Pit is that?!"

"This," Ironhide corrected, his voice full of pride, "is Nightfire. Chromia and I created her." To this the twins, for the first time, had no intelligent or smart-aft reply.

* * *

He normally tried to keep his temper on a leash. He honestly did try. But considering the events of last night, Prime mused as he held a staring match with his morning Energon, overreaction…well…

_A sparkling. _He couldn't get the mental image out of his mind, Ironhide gently cradling a wailing bundle of dark-blue and crooning softly to it. _Primus, where did **that **come from? _As the humans were fond of saying, talk about something coming at you out of left field… _Why didn't he come to me about this? I wouldn't have said no._ He took a sip of the light-colored liquid. _Granted, it was probably an automatic conclusion…he and Chromia did sparkbond before we had to launch the Allspark off-planet and if things had quieted down, they most certainly would have started a family unit. _The Autobot leader couldn't isolate what was bothering him the most, the fact that Ironhide hadn't trusted him enough to speak about his plans, or the sudden ray of hope that had blasted into the current situation with Nightfire's presence. Their species could rebuild now, in their adopted home, more and more Autobots were being found, searching his memory banks he knew there had been more couples other than Ironhide and Chromia in their ranks.

_Elita. _At this Optimus forced himself to down his Energon in one go, crushing the can it was in. Thinking about his own sparkmate…though they hadn't made it official, always brought back a wave of pain at their separation, being unable to tell if she was alive or dead… He was snapped out of his gloom by the sound of footfalls, and then a yellow head crashing into the bar surface next to him.

"Uuhhhhgggghhh." Prime bit back a chuckle at the CMO. Knowing that he wouldn't get anything coherent out of his friend unless he was fueled, the Autobot leader got up and went behind the bar, going for a cube and filling it straight up with vintage High-Grade.

"Here you go." He pushed the cube towards Ratchet, who sat up, gripped the glass, and proceeded to chug down the liquid in one go like he was back in medical school. The red and blue mech watched with amusement.

"Need another hit?"

"I'm good." Was the response. Optics blinked, and then locked with another pair of blue orbs. "Don't think he hid it from you. Chromia surprised me with her request for a chassis three orns ago. I think he was just afraid of being embarrassed. And you know those two enjoy their privacy."

"Yes." Optimus rumbled. "They do…it's just that…it seems…" He searched for a word. "Unsettling. This presents a new…situation." Ratchet nodded in reply.

"True. But we just have to handle it one breem at a time." He held out the cube, and Optimus obliged by filling it up again. "For now, we have much to thank Primus for. A new little sparkling…and a chance to get Ironhide back?" He started to guzzle the liquid again as Prime snorted.

"…A femme bot." His shoulders shook from the chuckles he was holding back. "Oh, when the Twins forgive him and get over their shock, they'll never let him live it down. And Jazz will have a field day…"

"I almost thought you four were going to destroy the Ark." Ratchet muttered, shooting his friend a dark glare. Optimus flinched and shrugged.

"Sorry. I'll help in the repairs." The doors hissed open and closed, Chromia entering. "Ah, it's our new little mother."

"Sir…" The femme started, embarrassed. "We're sorry that we didn't-"

"No, it's alright." The Autobot leader said, holding up a hand. "Regardless of what's happened, it's a wonderful surprise you and Ironhide have given us all. Speaking of which…where is the little bundle of joy?"

"With Ironhide." Chromia replied. "I have the codes for the gates, and well…" She fidgeted. "I needed to bring him and the Twins some energon."

"That's fine. They'll be out in another two cycles anyway…granted that your sparkmate decides to _not_ go crazy on Sunstreaker again." The femme nodded, and headed to the back to get some energy for her mate and the spark-twins. "As for you…" Blue optics scanned Ratchet quickly. "Go and recharge, that's an order. Leave Red Alert in charge, and we'll discuss on how to handle things with our new little friend tomorrow."

_Not to mention also alerting Bumblebee and the others…this is going to be very interesting._


	3. Fallout

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow a few of their ideas. And yes, yes, there will be Optimus/Elita in later chapters. Bwaha.

* * *

**_Fallout_**

The sound of a car horn had Sam Witwicky sticking his head out of his bedroom window.

"Just a few more minutes 'Bee!" He bellowed, turning around to finish cramming several items in a duffle bag. It was Saturday morning, he had the next week off from school and due to rushing all his homework he was free to go by the Ark and hang out with the Autobots for the vacation. Mikaela was coming along; he had to pick her up from her grandmother's house right after he left. Outside Bumblebee grumbled to himself, sinking back on his wheels.

_How many __breems__ does it take to pack up one or two things? _Of course he was slightly irritated, he'd been unable to recharge properly due to the party, Optimus had given him and Sam the boot right when the fun had started.

_You can't handle High Grade very well, solider. Off with you both!_

"Slag that." Bumblebee grumbled to himself. "Can't handle myself? I handle myself just fine." He gunned his motor in irritation.

"Got a problem?" The Camaro jerked in surprise, Ronald Witwicky was standing in front of him.

"Sorry sir. Just…" The chassis shrugged, or attempted to. "…Being my age…isn't much fun, sir."

"Ah. I wouldn't be in a rush to grow up if I were you." The human replied, patting Bumblebee's hood. "I know it's a drag, but trust me, once you're an adult, all you'll wish is that you were a little kid again."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Bumblebee muttered. Any response by Ronald was lost as Sam came running out of the house. "Finally!" The yellow Camaro opened the driver's side door.

"See you later Dad!"

"You check in every night with us, you hear?" Ronald yelled as Sam jumped in the driver's seat, the door slammed shut and Bumblebee sped out of the driveway. "And don't get into any trouble!" The blast of a car horn was his response, and the older man turned away, shaking his head.

"Teenagers…"

"Love ya, Grandma." Mikaela gave the older woman a quick kiss on the cheek, grabbing her own duffle. "I'll call you every night, okay?""You be careful sweetheart! And don't go staying up all night with your friends! You'll get those dark circles under your eyes and you won't be able to get rid of them!"

"Yes Grandmother." The teenager rolled her eyes as she closed the screen door behind her.

_If she only knew just 'who' my friends were, I'd probably be grounded until Dad came back from L.A. _A smile split her face as Bumblebee came roaring up, pausing long enough to open the passenger side door. Once both humans were inside, the Autobot gunned his engine, doing a 360 and tearing out onto the road, the song 'Harder to Breathe' blasting from the speakers.

* * *

The feel of something on his face jolted Ironhide out of a deep recharge.

"Huh?" Optic shutters opening, he woozily looked around the room he and Chromia shared. "What…oh." His gaze had rested on Nightfire, the little sparkling was sitting up, propped by his sleeping mate's chestplate. One little hand hovered in the air, and then resumed patting the warrior's mech's face. "Curious, huh?" As a reply, Nightfire brought her other hand to her mouthplate, starting to suck on her fingers. A small smile crossed Ironhide's faceplates, and he settled back down.

"See here-" He began, reaching out one finger for his daughter to grab. "This is something entirely new. Me and your mother here, we just liked to cuddle up next to each other if we woke up like this. But since you're sharing our recharge bed, well…" The sparkling clicked in delight and grabbed his thumb. "Yeah. When you get bigger, you're getting your own bed."

"Trying to make her grow up already?" Ironhide lifted his head, meeting the gleaming optics of Chromia. "I rather like our little arrangement here." The black mech smiled, pressing a kiss to his sparkmate's foreplate.

"Just letting her know what's going to be what when she gets older." Nightfire let loose a rapid string of clicks and eagerly grabbed at Ironhide's neck joint. "Go back to recharge. I'll feed our little darling here." As her systems came online, Chromia sat up and stretched.

"Too late." Setting both feet on the floor, she walked over to the small cabinet on the far side of the room. "I'll fix her Energon." To this there was no reply save for high-pitched squeaks and clicks, Nightfire had curled up into a ball and was trying to escape her father's tickling fingers on her sensitive wires, giggling like mad.

"Come here you little-ha! Got you!" Ironhide crowed, snagging his daughter by the scruff-bar and holding her up for more 'treatment'. "Coochy-choochy coo!" Nightfire squeaked in delight again, automatically curling up into a little ball. Her blue optics shone with adoration as she looked at her 'father'. "Aww.hey!" For Chromia had swiped Nightfire out of his grip.

"Breakfast." The silver-blue femme said. Seating herself on the recharge bed, she allowed Nightfire to grab the bottle and bring it to her mouthplate. "I must admit, this is a genius human invention. Easier than those 'sparky-cups' we have…"

"How did you get one that big?" Ironhide asked, one eye ridge lifted.

"Perceptor. The only adjustment he needed to make was to the fluid release….Nightfire, no, stay still!" For the sparkling was starting to wriggle violently in the femme's grip, one little hand on top of Chromia's own on the bottle. "You can't hold it on your own yet." Upset, Nightfire spit out the tube, squeaking and clicking in anger. Energon dribbled down her chassis as she slammed a fist against her mother.

"Hey hey hey." Ironhide rumbled, wrapping his hands around the sparkling's delicate frame. "Take it easy, you'll make yourself sick like that." Nightfire squeaked again, now gearing up for a full-blown temper tantrum. "Oh no you don't." The sparkling automatically curled up into a little ball, arms and legs tucking themselves in as Ironhide snagged her by the scruff-bar again and lifted her up. "No fits. You made yourself get sick yesterday throwing one…though with what happened, I don't exactly blame you." Watery blue optics met his gaze. "Oh no, no. Not that look. I'm immune to that look now."

"I'll clean her up." Chromia said, taking Nightfire from Ironhide's grasp. The sparkling gladly snuggled into her chassis, snuggling close to the sound of the femme's pump. "We have to meet with Ratchet anyway. And you need to talk to Prime."

"Right." Ironhide said relucently. "Primus, I would have told him but I…" He trailed off. "And he's probably thinking about Elita now, sla-" He stopped at the glare Chromia was shooting him. "…stuff…it. Yes. Stuff. Completely forgot." Nightfire got a kiss. "No cursing around the younglings."

"Out." Chromia ordered with a laugh in her voice. "We'll come by and see you later."

* * *

He couldn't believe his optics. Hound stared at what Chromia had in her arms, a little twitching bundle of dark-blue wires.

"…Is that a…" He started, pointing. "I thought the High-Grade had gotten to my holograms, but is that a real-"

"Yes, _she_ is." Chromia responded, reaching for her own can of Energon. "Hound, meet Nightfire. Nightfire, meet Hound." The sparkling looked up at the green Autobot, clicking in curiosity.

"Talk about your wrecking balls…" This from Sideswipe, who was leaning in close to check out the tiny 'bot, his twin following suit. Sunstreaker eyed the sparkling, and then looked up at Chromia.

"At least she doesn't have her father's looks." The femme let out a crack of laughter.

"Now you need to stop that." She scolded. "Ironhide does not need all of you on his tailpipe."

"Lady!" Sunstreaker said. "Do you know how long we've been praying to Primus for something like this? Finally, something _on _Ironhide!" He held out a hand to Nightfire, who grabbed it, clicking away.

"Every time we try to process you sparkbonding with him-" A chorus of 'eww, Sideswipe' met that remark. "Our CPUS refuse to compute, and now you…having…done…" Sunstreaker made to bellow, but was stopped by Hound's hand slamming over his mouthplate. Chromia shot the red Twin a dirty look, lifting Nightfire to snuggle into her shoulder joint.

"In that case, I pity the femme whoever gets stuck with you as a sparkmate, she'll not want to touch you with a ten foot pole." Sideswipe opened his mouth to retort but was elbowed by his brother. Entranced by all the attention she was getting, Nightfire spun her little head around to look at all the mechs, clicking to Chromia in her excitement.

"A femme…" Bluestreak mused. "Talk about a stroke of luck, Chromia." The war on Cybertron had all but decimated the femme population, Autobot and Decepticon alike.

"I know." The silver-blue Autobot responded. "Primus willing, maybe it'll hold…" She gently stroked the sparkling's head, standing up. "Right now, we need to pay a visit to Ratchet."

* * *

_Bumblebee?_The Camaro's radio crackled to life. _You there?_

"Hey Jazz!" Sam said. "What's up man?"

_Yo__! Sam!_

"Hi Jazz." Mikaela called, smiling.

"What's wrong?" Bumblebee asked.

_Uh…something's…something big happened on the base man…_

"Decepticon attack?" Sam asked, feeling his heart lurch and the sudden tensing of Bee underneath him.

_No, no! It's…something else. _A series of rapid clicking followed, Jazz having reverted to his native tongue to speak to the younger Autobot. Bumblebee clicked back in response, and Jazz replied. Dead silence filled the car, and then suddenly Sam and Mikaela found themselves flying forward as Bumblebee slammed on his brakes.

"Ah!"

"What the…Bee! What the hell was that?" More silence and Sam found himself getting worried. "Bumblebee? What's…WHOA!" For suddenly the Camaro had gunned its engine and shot down the road again at stop speed. "Bumblebee!! Aaaahh!!"

* * *

Ratchet clicked at Nightfire, who was being propped up on his examination table by one of Chromia's arms. A full recharge had reenergized him, at least enough to deal with any more issues over Nightfire's presence. And apparently a big one was en-route; Jazz had mentioned something about giving Bumblebee a warning.

_That's not going to go over well. __At least for starters._He clicked again at the sparkling, who squeaked in glee and fired a rapid set of her own clicks in response. A smile played around his faceplates at Nightfire's enthusiasm.

"Social little 'bot, is she not?" He said, marking something off on a computer pad.

"She loves attention." Chromia said.

"Of course. Such a pretty little sparkling." Ratchet replied, flicking Nightfire and having her squeak in response. "Have to make sure she's not spoiled rusted."

"We've already had her give us the weepy optics." The femme replied, laughing. "But her diet…" The yellow Autobot nodded.

"Yes. For starters, she needs to stay on the straight Low-Grade diet until she's half a vorn old." He started. "In fact, given our current situation, she might need to stay on it for the full vorn. Perceptor's done his best, but we need the additional CPU power of Wheeljack and First Aid to help figure out how to adjust Earth fuels enough for our intake."

"What about the Energon? The Earth-made ones?" Ratchet considered Nightfire.

"I think maybe the solar when she's the half-vorn. It's natural, has had the least processing. You and that bit-brain of a mate though-" The silver-blue Autobot looked up in surprise. "Yes, you two. You don't just run off and create a sparkling and expect to just plow along at full strength." Chromia started, optics widening. "At least you got _some_ recharge in. No interruptions tonight along with a infusion of High Grade should take care of the rest." Nightfire giggled at the look on her 'mother's face, clicking rapidly at her.

"Ahem!" Chromia coughed, picking up the wriggling sparkling. "Yes, Doctor Hatchet. Anything else of the embarrassing nature you wish to air?"

"Can I assume her personality is the result of how…err…involv-"

**_CRACK._**

The 'bay doors _hissed_ open and closed as Chromia exited, a madly giggling Nightfire looking over her shoulder.

"Men!" She huffed. Behind her, Ratchet rolled over from his landing position on the floor, cackling as he lifted up one hand to feel a dent in his foreplate.

"I thought one of the rules was no violence in front of the youngling!" He yelled at the door, sitting up. "Primus, she can hit _hard…_"

* * *

"What do you mean you made a sparkling?! What about me?!" Ironhide dragged a deep breath of air in to help his already overworked cooling system, several breems ago Bumblebee had come tearing up the road, all but thrown out Sam and Mikaela, transformed and came roaring into the _Ark._

_Jazz is about to become a dead bot. __Again._"Bumblebee, it's not what you think." He began, struggling for patience. "This is something Chromia and I wanted for a long time. Nobody can replace-"

"That's a bunch of slag-scrap and you know it!" The yellow Autobot yelled back.

"Bumblebee!" Ironhide bellowed. No response, the younger 'bot had transformed and burned rubber speeding out of the room. "Frag it! 'Bee!"

"Let him go, Ironhide." The commanding voice of Optimus Prime boomed. "He's a smart little 'bot, give him some time to process it." The weapons specialist stopped, shoulders heaving.

"SLAG!" He roared, suddenly spinning around and crashing one fist into the wall. "Frag it all to Pit!"

"Ironhide…" Prime began.

"Is…is it so wrong for me to just desire one thing? ONE THING?" Another _crash._"Damn it! All those years alone, wondering if she was alive or dead, too far away to even sense anything though what we shared, and now...ggarrarrrrhhhh!!" A chair went flying. "I didn't mean to hurt him!"

"Ironhide, give him some time to cool off!" The Autobot leader urged. "This has been a major shock for all of us; of course you're allowed to find your own happiness. I prayed to Primus every night that you and Chromia would be reunited. You two have given new hope to our race!" The warrior mech sagged.

"And Elita?" He asked. Optimus started.

"…What about her?" Ironhide straightened, turning to face his friend.

"…I don't want to…" A pause. "I don't want it…as how the humans phrase it…rubbing my good fortune in your face…"

"No." Optimus whispered; his voice full of sorrow. "No, Ironhide, no! Never. If there's anyone who deserves the kind of happiness you have found with Chromia and Nightfire, it's you." Ironhide turned away again.

"I didn't say…because…it was…just between us. And Ratchet, but still..."

"And it was your right." The red and blue mech rumbled, walking up and placing one hand on Ironhide's back. "We'll figure this out, my friend." There was a long silence, and then it was broken by the black mech clearing his vocal processor.

"Bumblebee?"

"I'll speak to him. And no, you may not kill Jazz. Once was enough for us if you are so kind to remember."

"Hmph." And before anything else could be said, two very dusty and _fragged__-off_ humans entered the rec room. "Samuel? Mikaela? What on…" Sam looked up at his two friends, anger clearly radiating off his body.

"Will someone…please tell me…what the HELL is going on?" He bellowed. "Why did Bumblebee just screw us like that?" Mikaela didn't say anything, but shot the two Autobots a _very_ dirty look. Prime winced.

"…Ratchet!"


	4. Truce

AN: Credit to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow a few of their ideas.

* * *

**_Truce_**

For Optimus, it was simply too easy to locate Bumblebee. Leaving Sam and Mikaela in the hands of Ratchet-Primus, his friend was going to tear him a new one and then some- Optimus assumed his Peterbilt truck form and sped out after the little youngling's signal.

_Primus…I should not ask, but please… a little more time. Please._

The lookout oddly enough was quiet this time of day. Bumblebee was parked near the ledge, having transformed and was sitting with his head on his knees. Optimus followed suit, pausing several feet away from the smaller 'bot.

"Bumblebee?" He rumbled. No response, save for the yellow head turning slightly. "May I sit with you?" Again, no response, and Optimus took that as a 'yes'. Gyros spun as he carefully sat next to the smaller Autobot, massive legs hanging off the ledge of the lookout. "Aahh. So." How best to start the conversation? "Quite a surprise Ironhide and Chromia pulled on us." More silence, and finally an unhappy click from Bumblebee.

"…Doesn't he still like me?"

"Now stop acting like a sparkling." Optimus scolded. "Of course Ironhide still likes you. He loves you as if you were his own. It's just that…" He sighed. Primus, why did the little ones ask the hardest questions? "Things are delicate right now." Delicate was an understatement. "Just realize that before you came, all of us…especially Ironhide…we were lonely for a long time. And he had something very special with Chromia." The spy clicked again.

"I know, I know…it's just that…" He curled up. "I don't know, Optimus. It's all so…_weird!_"

"Another understatement." The Autobot leader rumbled. "But try to look at it this way. You always wanted a little brother or sister, correct?"

"Yes…"

"Well after apologizing to Ironhide, try to think of their little sparkling as your little sister. Which, somewhat technically, she is." Bumblebee considered this.

"I'll apologize, sir." He began. "But…I'd…I just need to think about-"

"Of course." Optimus said. "At least be civil to her and Chromia. Aside from you, she's the first sparkling that's been born in a very long time." Bumblebee nodded.

"Optimus…" Blue optics lifted, pinned the Autobot leader with their gaze. "Are you sure you don't know anything about my creator?" Prime felt his pump slam painfully in his chest, and then settle back into its normal beat.

"No little one. I'm sorry."

* * *

"Eeww. Oh man. That's wrong. That's just WRONG." Mikaela resisted the urge to slam her head into a hand; Ratchet had taken them to the medical bay to clean up and calm down after Bumblebee had stranded them outside the Ark, briefly explaining the situation.

"Sam! They don't reproduce like we do. So there's no 'eww' involved."

"Mikaela, its Ironhide. _Ironhide!_"

"So?" The black-haired teen snapped back, twisting her hair into a loose ponytail. "Ratchet, can you get somebody to show me to my room?" The yellow Autobot nodded.

"Perceptor!" He called. The yellow and white scientist appeared.

"You called?"

"Yes. Can you show Mikaela to her quarters so she can get settled?" A grin crossed Perceptor's face as the human waved at him, smiling.

"It would be a pleasure." Extending one hand, he allowed Mikaela to get on before standing up and walking out of the room. That done, Ratchet turned his attention to Sam.

"You and Bumblebee…I'm assuming he will come back with his processor straight- will still room together?"

"Oh yeah." Sam replied, nodding his head. "I can understand where he's coming from. I mean, that's a shocker." Shucking off his jacket, he settled down on the examination table. "But I don't understand one thing. I mean, she's the first like…baby born in a long time right? Aside from Bumblebee? Why are all of you so worried? Shouldn't you be like celebrating or something?" Ratchet sighed.

"It's…a bit complicated, Sam. Some warning for starters would have been appreciated, and we still have the threat of Decepticons about. And then…" The yellow Autobot paused, trying to phrase what he was about to say next. "Hope. She's the very first young femme-bot in a long time, and on Cybertron during the war, Autobot and Decepticon femmes alike were almost wiped out." Sam started violently, his eyes widening.

"Why?" Ratchet shook his head.

"We don't know why." And it wasn't something he wanted to get into…not today. "Anyway. I'll take you to your quarters, and then afterwards when Prime and Bumblebee get back, we have to call a meeting. With Nightfire around, a few things need to change."

* * *

Ironhide stood impassively as Optimus approached him, Bumblebee in tow. The Autobot leader gave his friend a small nod as he passed, leaving guardian and youngling alone together. Bumblebee fidgeted, looking down at the ground before straightening his frame and facing the weapons specialist.

"I'm sorry Ironhide." He said. "I know…you wouldn't abandon me. I acted like a spoiled sparking, and-"

"Oh hush." The black mech said, striding forward and giving the spy a light punch on the shoulder joint. "After all the fraggin little temper tantrums you had with me when you were younger? However…" He tucked one hand under the yellow 'bot's chin. "I'm sorry for not telling you."

"No, no. It was your own business. Just…give me some time to get adjusted, please."

"Only fair." Ironhide rumbled. He clapped Bumblebee on the back, pulling him close. "Let's go. Prime was going on about some meeting earlier. And you got two humans you need to talk to as well."

* * *

"What's up bitches?"

"Ow!"

"Watch the language!" Ratchet snapped. "Sparkling present." He pointed to Nightfire, who had curled into a deep recharge in Chromia's arms.

"She's not gonna hear me!"

"Alright, settle down." Optimus ordered, taking a seat on the large Autobot-sized couch in the recreation room. The meeting was strictly informal, and he smiled at Sam and Mikaela who had taken up perches on Bumblebee's shoulder. Ironhide strode into the room, taking a seat next to Chromia and gently flicking a finger over Nightfire's head. "We all present and accounted for? Hound?"

"Here."

"Perceptor? Red Alert?" The two bots raised their hands. "Sunstreaker and Sidewipe?"

"Hn."

"Yo." Optimus nodded.

"Good. Let's get down to business then. I believe everyone more or less has met the new member of our team." Nine pairs of optics and two sets of human eyes immediately looked at the sleeping Nightfire, causing Chromia to twitch slightly and pull the little 'bot closer. "And I'm sure most, if not all of you have already offered your well-wishes and congratulations. It also apparently has dawned on me now that we need to-"

"Oh Primus no." Jazz moaned in mock complaint. "No, Prime, not the rules again. I'm beggin' you man!"

"Rules?" Mikaela asked.

"Sparkings and younglings are very sensitive to their environment." Ratchet answered. "Being raised on a battleship wasn't exactly…a good background for Bumblebee, so we tried to make up for it by being careful about our actions, words, what information he was allowed to access."

"Sparkling 101." Sam said.

"You have it."

"First rule." Optimus interrupted, but there was a glint in his optics that indicated he was enjoying this. "No High-Grade of any kind, shape, or form around Nightfire."

"Awww..."

"No cursing-" A glare towards Jazz, Ironhide and the Twins. "No screaming, no roughhousing. The little one's coming from enough violence as it is."

"Hey!" Ironhide barked as the Autobots, Sam and Mikaela dissolved into laughter. Even Chromia couldn't hide a smile. Then the room fell into dead silence as Nightfire twitched, and then curled up into an even tighter ball.

"Gah…" Sideswipe muttered. "Rule four. Don't wake up the sparkling in recharge!" Optimus nodded.

"Number five. Keep her out of the firing range."

"That's a given." Chromia muttered.

"Rule six. Until further notice, not a single word of this is to be transmitted to anyone." The Autobot leader said, his tone turning serious. "Our kind we can swear to silence, but Sam and Mikaela, I trust you to not mention this to anyone." The two teens nodded.

"We promise, Prime." Mikaela said.

"Yeah." Sam added.

"Good." Optimus said. "I realize this sounds unorthodox, but this matter is once again, delicate."

"Why?" Mikaela asked. "I mean, Sam told me a little bit before we all got together, but I'd like to know a little more." Surpisingly, it was Bumblebee that answered.

"I don't know that much myself, because I came online afterwards." The spy started. "But at one point in the war, Megatron suddenly gave orders for all femme-bots, either Decepticon or Autobot to be killed."

"We found out too late." Prowl said somberly.

"That infernal demon also issued the same commands on all sparklings and younglings not long after." Perceptor added. "Until the present time, Bumblebee's been the very last one."

"Do you even know why he did that?" Mikaela whispered, sickened. "Chromia, how did you…" The silver-blue mech smiled sadly.

"Not many of us were that lucky. In fact the only ones who survived were the ones either on _Artemis 1_ or the other stronger Autobot bases." Dim memories of grief and despair threatened to arise, but Chromia pushed them back. "Besides." She smiled down at the sleeping Nightfire. "It's the past, and we have a wonderful new present and future."

"Yeah, with the spawn of trigger-happy there." Sunstreaker muttered, slouching into his seat. This earned him dirty looks from both Ironhide and Chromia, with the black mech mouthing threats at the yellow twin.

"If there is any other business?" Prime rumbled, shooting his own glares at his friend and Sunstreaker. "I believe that is all for the moment. The shifts for the next three days have been posted-"

"When will Wheeljack and First Aid arrive?" Bluestreak asked.

"Teletran-1 estimates the middle of this incoming week." Ratchet responded. The chatter soon turned to other topics, with jokes being tossed at Ironhide when he picked up the still-sleeping Nightfire from Chromia's arms to put into full recharge. Bumblebee even worked up his curiosity enough to look closer at the sleeping sparkling, asking Jazz and Optimus questions about his own infancy.

Not even Sam noticed when a alert light started to flash on one of Teletran-1's consoles, a map of the solar system coming up on a monitor, a yellow dot flashing just past Mars…


	5. Crash

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow some of their ideas. Also, has been messing up my formating and eating my words, so currently, any Autobot speaking Cybertronian will be talking in bolded and italicized words.

* * *

**_Crash_**

The next two days aboard the Ark were uneventful, the Autobots reverting back to 'sparking on base' mode rather easily. Nightfire charmed everyone who laid optics or eyes on her, though most of her time was spent either in recharge or greedily sucking down Energon from her 'bottle'. Because there weren't that many 'sparkling-sitters' around though, it was fast becoming common to see Nightfire with either Chromia or Ironhide on their shifts, curled up in a makeshift playpen or being carried about. Bumblebee, while not completely trusting of the sparkling yet, helped out the couple by covering some of their shifts or dutifully 'spark-sitting' if his guardian or the femme had to go off base.

This was one such occasion. Autobot City had reached the point in its construction that now ideas for its defenses were needed, and Ironhide had been called in. Chromia was part of the landing team meeting Wheeljack and First Aid and had gone out to the landing site early. Ratchet had gone on the fritz again and nobody dared go near the medical wing, Perceptor had gone (in all honesty) to assist in an chemical explosion outside Tranquility, Bluestreak and Prowl were taking inventory, Prime also had left with Ironhide, Hound was on recon, Mikaela was also holed up with Ratchet in the medical wing (Red Alert was more than likely being held hostage in there), Jazz was in the firing range and Sam was calling his parents.

Ergo, it was Bumblebee and Nightfire…the two youngest bots in the current history of their kind…alone on the base together.

* * *

The yellow bot did his best not to groan in annoyance as Nightfire started to squirm in his lap, struggling to grip the bottle.

_Not again. _"Stop that." He ordered, holding the Energon out of reach. "You don't have the process to hold it by yourself yet." Nightfire blinked little optics, her mouthplate starting to wobble. "No. Don't you even dare." The sparkling clicked sadly, optics getting moist. Beseechingly she looked up at Bumblebee, clicking unhappily. She was hungry, why did he take the energy away?

_Primus…_ "Here." Nightfire clicked giddily, starting to guzzle down the Energon. "Not so fast! Stop!" To this the sparkling managed to wrap one little hand around the bottle and pull it away, but the result was Energon spewing all over the two, the bottle-top coming off.

"AAAAHHHHH!!"

"Rrrgggh!" Bumblebee resisted the urge to roar in anger, instead settling for picking up Nightfire and standing up, now she needed a bath and it would take _cycles_ to calm her down. _What in the Pit did I do to deserve this?!_

Bathtime at least was an easy affair, cleaning fluid took the place of water for Cybertronians and the sink at the bar in the rec room turned into a tub.

"In you go." Bumblebee muttered as he placed Nightfire in the liquid. "See? We have all your toys as well, there's your rubber duck." The sparkling snatched the toy, clicking wildly. "Just get your paintjob all clean and then we'll try feeding you again." To this Nightfire clicked again, turning her optics up towards her 'older brother'. The yellow Autobot sighed as he ran the cloth over the sparkling's frame.

"This is an adjustment for me." He said. "I mean…at the beginning, Ironhide was my guardian. He took care of me when Optimus couldn't. He and all the other Autobots." Nightfire had gone silent, listening intently. "I don't know who my creator is. I don't even know if I had two. You're lucky because you know who made you." He paused, looking at the washcloth. "I guess…I always thought I was going to be the last youngling. It never entered into my CPU that anyone we had left…Ironhide included, would want to pair off with their sparkmate and create a family unit. So in that regard I guess I was spoiled rusted." Nightfire clicked and splashed around. "And I did sometimes dream about having a younger brother or sister. Just like I dreamed about someday finding my creator." Another sigh. "I'm an adult now…well, almost, and I guess I haven't been acting like one recently." The feel of something on his hand started Bumblebee out of his musings; Nightfire had put her little hand on top of his and was looking up at him, clicking in curiosity. The spy felt a smile twitch on his mouthplate.

"…You know, you're not that much of a handful." He began. "And it would be good for Optimus and the others to get overprotective on somebody else for once." Nightfire clicked; liking the attention she was being given. "And," Here the sparkling was lifted up into the air. "if you pick recon and spying as your functions, I guess I'd be your trainer." Another series of clicks.

_Maybe this won't be so bad after all. _"If we do this, you are going to have to listen to me, agreed?" Nightfire squeaked as she was set back down in the solution. "For starters, I can show you all the best places to hide out on the _Ark. _Not even Prowl knows their locations. And then there's how to break keycodes and pick locks-"

Outside, Optimus felt a smile spread across his faceplate. He nudged Ironhide, who looked up at him and grinned back as well. The two had returned early, just in time to overhear the youngling's conversation.

"Thank Primus." The black mech muttered. "That's one load off my CPU."

"I knew he'd come around." Prime whispered, pride evident in his tone. "I suppose soon enough you'll have a full time sparkling-sitter." Muffling the sound of the door, the two peered in at the happily giggling Nightfire and the rambling-away Bumblebee.

* * *

Chromia sighed unhappily, sinking in on her wheels. She'd radioed in a status report of the area and was awaiting further instructions, but in reality, she just wanted to go back to the Ark and her sparkling. Nightfire was still far too young to be separated from her 'mother' and 'father' for long periods, and the silver-blue H3's cooling systems were working overtime.

_Stop it. She's just fine with Bumblebee, and there's several more 'bots on base. __Ironhide__ should be heading back by now and he can keep an optic on her. _Still the femme found herself fretting. Had Nightfire been put into a proper recharge? Did Bumblebee remember to not let her feed herself? _Argh!_ Gunning her motor in annoyance, Chromia went into drive and headed for the highway. Maybe a trip into the human town would distract her. Turning on her radio, she started to scan for a decent station. Despite how short they were, some Earth songs were rather catchy.

_The instrumentals are quite nice, maybe_ Any other thoughts were cut off as her radar went _beserk_, red lights flashing in front of her optic field of vision. Chromia slammed on her brakes, staring up her transformation as the reports came flying in.

_Primus! What on-_ Now in her original form, she shifted her gaze to the sky, her tracking systems finding a fast-hurtling comet heading her way, but the readings were telling her this was _not_ any normal comet. _What? That's a protoform! Can't be __Wheeljack__ or First Aid, they're not slated until tomorrow!_ Reverting back to her alt mode, she skidded backwards and threw herself into a 360, tearing for an overhang of rocks that were nearby. The protoform was out of control and about to crash, all the femme could do was duck for cover and hope for the best. She got behind the overhang just as a unholy screech was heard above her, the ground bucked and then intense, searing heat…

* * *

Teletran-1 was going crazy. Sirens screamed throughout the Ark, causing Nightfire to howl in response.

"Shut those off!" Ratchet roared from his spot at the science console.

"Teletran-1's picked up a protoform landing in the sector where Chromia is!" Bluestreak shouted, fingers flying over the keyboard. "It just came out of nowhere!"

"Get Chromia on comms now!" Optimus barked. "Prowl, Ironhide, Hound, get rolling to that location!" He winced as Nightfire's wails threatened to offline his auditory receptors. "Ratchet!"

"On it!" The medic snarled, shuddering into his alt form. Bumblebee finally got the bright idea to grip Nightfire by her scruff-bar, the sparkling instantly stopped screaming, curling up into a little ball and looking at the scene with wet optics. "'Bee, you and Jazz get Nightfire to the shelter and stay with her!"

"Right!" The spy said, swinging the sparkling into his arms but still being mindful to keep a good grasp on her scruff. The yellow search and rescue Hummer followed the other Autobots out of the Ark, turning on his own sirens the minute the group hit the highway. To the human eye, all of them (save for Ratchet) were emergency vehicles, thanks to Hound's holograms.

* * *

Driving slowly out of her hiding place, Chromia transformed once more, her right arm transforming into a cannon. The weapon hummed as she aimed it at the protoform, the femme wasn't taking any chances.

**_Identify yourself!_** She clicked out in the Cybertronian tongue. **_Faction and designation!_** No answer came, and Chromia stepped forward as the protoform started to emerge from its transition mode. _**Stop! You will give me your faction and designation, or else I will open fire!**_ Again there was no reply, and the protoform lurched unsteadily before falling to all fours, blue liquid trickling from open wounds on its body.

_**…Auto…bot?**_

_It's hurt!_ Chromia realized. Yet she still kept her weapon trained. _**Yes. Name and designation!**_

_**Auto…bot…Mir…age…**_ The protoform collapsed, and Chromia nearly had a spark-attack.

_**Mirage?!**_ "Mirage!" She cried, her cannon converting back to her arm as she rushed forward. "Mirage!" **_It's Chromia! Respond!_**

_Chromia! _Her radio crackled to life. _Chromia__, respond! __Chromia! _Gently cradling Mirage in her arms, the femme activated her comm-link.

"Ironhide! Alert Optimus, we just had another Autobot land!"

_Not __Wheeljack__ or First Aid?_ Came Ratchet's voice.

"No, it's Mirage. Come quickly, he's badly hurt!"

_We're on the way. You need to hide him and yourself, the humans are coming to investigate!_

"Slag!" Chromia cursed. _We won't be able to get very far; he's so badly hurt I don't even think he could transcan an alternate mode! But nothing can be done… _"Acknowledged. I am turning on my tracer, please come as fast as you can. Chromia out." That done, she scanned the nearby area, looking for a good place to hide.

_That housing sector I passed by earlier… _"Come on, Mirage." She said, propping the wounded Autobot against her. _**Stay with me, you hear? Don't you dare deactivate on me!**_

* * *

_What in the name of Primus is Mirage doing here? _Prowl texted to the other Autobots as they sped towards Chromia's location. _He didn't reply to __Prime's__ transmission!_

_That's beside the point right now Prowl! _Ratchet replied.

_Can it and speed up! _Was the dangerous rumble from Ironhide. _We got to get them and haul aft before the __fraggin__ 'Cons attack!_

_We are 20 __breems__ away from her location. _Hound said. _But I'm afraid we might be already too late…_

* * *

The well-manicured lawns and immaculate houses of the gated community outside Tranquility held no attraction for Chromia as she helped Mirage hide behind a large mansion.

_**Come on, Mirage, scan something!**_ The protoform clicked weakly. _**Please! You can't function in this world the way you are now!**_

_**..I…try…**_ Parked near the duo was a blue and white Ferrari F340, blue lasers danced over its sleek frame, and then Chromia found her hands empty as Mirage forced himself to assume his new alternate mode.

_**You did it! Can you move in that form?**_

_**Not very…well. Tired…**_

_**Ironhide and the others will be here soon. There's a rest stop not too far away from us, can you make it there?**_

_**Yes.**_ Chromia reverted to her H3 mode, and backed up so that Mirage could take the lead. The two cars attracted no attention as they left the community, and the highway was quiet. At the entrance to the rest stop however, Mirage's strength gave out, and so had to be pushed via Chromia's bumper behind the building, where it took the last of his reserves to transform back into his normal form before crashing to the ground.

_**Mirage!**_ But before Chromia could rush over to his side, a high pitched sound had her stopping stock-still, sensors trying to analyze and pinpoint just what it was.

_…I've heard that before. _Again, the high-pitched noise, only it sounded much closer. The femme frowned, searching though her databanks. _I know it… _In front of her, Mirage lifted his head at a figure behind Chromia, optics widening.

_**Watch out!**_ The high-pitched noise-no, it was a _scream_- had Chromia whipping around, which saved her back from being shredded by several blades spinning at almost 600 RPM. The femme hit the ground rolling, bouncing back up with her cannon arm activating, firing a high-powered plasma blast. However it was deflected by a black-and-white armored arm, the words "Emergency 9-1-1 Response" emblazoned on it.

"Well." The voice had a snarl crossing Chromia's faceplates. "This is an enemy I haven't seen for quite a while." In response the silver-blue femme aimed her cannon again, several sleek missile launchers appearing on her shoulders.

"Barricade."

* * *

AN: Yes, I am one of those people who believe Barricade is still alive and kicking. Deal. :3


	6. Draw

AN: Credit to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow some of their ideas. This is going to be a short and sweet chapter, primarly because fight scenes are my biggest weakness and I just wanted to get it out on paper before the idea went away.

* * *

**_Draw_**

Chromia never removed her optics from the black-and-white form of Barricade. She couldn't afford to, behind her was the vulnerable frame of Mirage.

_I have to hold him off until __Ironhide__ and the others arrive. _She aimed her laser sight dead center on Barricade's chest, right where a pump beat underneath.

"Look at what the Pit threw up."

"Autobot scum!" Barricade rumbled. "You femmes were supposed to have been destroyed vorns ago."

"Well, we survived." Chromia replied. "I hear you're not doing so well though. Only 'Con left? Turned tailpipe and ran? Tsk tsk."

"You will pay for that remark." The Decepticon replied. "With your _spark!"_ The gyro-blades came flying out, Chromia crouched down in a battle position, hearing them _whizz_ above her head before lunging forward, crashing into Barricade and going down in a heap of metal. The battle was fast and furious as both mechs struggled for an advantage, sparks flying.

"Rrrnnngg!" Roaring up, Barricade lashed out with one arm, sending the femme flying backwards. "I'll send you to the scrap-heap!" The compartment on his chest popped open, and a skittering sprawl of legs and arms came flying out, heading at breakneck speed towards the prone Mirage. Leaving his partner be, the Decepticon stalked back towards the recovering Chromia, swinging the gyro-blades viciously.

"Do give all your little femme-bot friends my regards."

"Get recycled!" Chromia screamed, firing several missiles at the black-and-white. Barricade ducked around them quite easily and with a flick of his wrist, sent the gyro-blades directly into the femme's body. Unable to avoid them, the silver-blue femme went down hard.

"Aaaaahhh!!" Clawed hands wrapped around Chromia's neck, lifting her up. Barricade couldn't keep the grin from off his faceplate, bringing the gyro-blades up once more. The femme went limp, her CPU trying to find any escape from her impending offline. A strangled scream had her jerking; Mirage was on hands and knees, struggling with Frenzy trying to attack his chest plate.

_No!_ With a howl Chromia did the only thing she could think of, bringing her head forward with enough force into Barricade's. The resulting _CRACK_ was enough to stun both 'bots, and Chromia broke free.

"I'll make you pay with spark!" She screamed, bringing her cannon online and unleashing several shots at point-blank range into Barricade's armor, sending the Decepticon to the ground.

**_Chromia!_**

"Bootleg son of a glitch!" The cannon reformed into an arm, and Chromia gripped a cylinder that had just popped out of her subspace. A crackle, and a long rope of energy formed, which she snapped to full length and aimed it at Frenzy. The mini-bot screamed and jumped off Mirage, firing several of its blades at Chromia. The femme threw up one arm, grimacing as the blades scored a hit, but it wasn't enough.

"Die!" She screamed, lashing out with the energy whip again. This time the band wrapped around Frenzy several times before Chromia pulled back, releasing Frenzy just as the small 'bot exploded. Behind her, Barricade got back up.

"Your turn to die!"

"Not before you do first!" And with those words, a black GMC Topkick slammed into Barricade, transforming as it did so.

"Ironhide!" Chromia cried. Sirens screamed, and Ratchet pulled up to Mirage's side, gyros spinning as he morphed back into his regular form.

"Hound! Give me a hand here!" Mirage was wheezing, sparks shooting from his body. Frenzy had ripped his chest plate apart in an attempt to attack the Autobot's spark, and his earlier wounds were still leaking Energon. "Primus…Chromia! What happened here?" The silver-blue femme came rushing back.

"He was hurt even before he landed." She said, her words tumbling out her mouthplate. "He wasn't able to access the Internet and he could barely transcan an alt mode. Whatever energy he had left he used up getting here."

"Was that Frenzy? I thought he was dead!" Hound exclaimed.

"Help now, chat later!" Ratchet snarled. "That bootleg's all but breached his pump chamber and I don't know what other injuries he has!" Activating his scanners, he ran them up and down the length of Mirage's body, feeling his spark sink with every alert that came up.

_His propulsion system's down, he's missing his energy converters-the spinal relay's hanging on by wires-his CPU's…what? A virus?_!"Frag!" Hound and Chromia jumped.

"What?"

"What is it?"

"Chromia, get back to base now and tell Optimus I need him out here!" The medic snapped. "No questions just go!" The femme immediately morphed into her Hummer mode, tires squealing as she sped off towards the highway. The medic watched her leave, and then turned his attention to his right leg, opening up one of the side panels. A frown crossed Hound's faceplates.

"Ratchet? What are you-" The scout nearly spark-attacked when Ratchet calmly tore an energy convertor out of his leg. "RATCHET! WHAT IN PRIMUS'S NAME-"

"Shut up and help me wield this into him." The yellow Autobot snapped.

* * *

"Optimus! Incoming transmission from Chromia!"

"This is Prime here." Optimus answered, fear twisting his spark. "Chromia, report."

_Sir! Ratchet needs you out here; the protoform that landed was Mirage! He's badly hurt and we need your assistance getting him back to the Ark! Please hurry, Ironhide and Prowl are engaging Barricade and Frenzy!_

"I'm on my way."

"Teletran-1's has your trailer ready." Bluestreak reported.

* * *

"Slag!" Ironhide cursed, slamming the ground with a fist. After Chromia had departed, Barricade had released a flash-bomb, overloading the optics of him and Prowl for several breems. When their vision had cleared Barricade was gone…and so were the pieces of Frenzy. "We had him!"

"We can't do anything now. All we can do is wait for Optimus to come." Prowl answered, bringing down his gun. "Let's see how Mirage is doing."

* * *

Mirage was recharging peacefully, his wounds sealed shut. A nervous Hound was shooting glances every five minutes at Ratchet, who was working on patching up his own self-inflicted wounds.

"Ratchet? How's…" Prowl trailed off, his optics widening as he saw the CMO. "Primus! What happened to you?!"

"Nothing." Was the reply.

"What in the Pit is…" Now it was Ironhide's turn to trail off and stare at his friend, but his CPU was quick to jump to a conclusion. "Ratchet! Primus blast you to Pit, tell me you didn't-"

"I did. I'll be fine as long as we get back to the Ark, Red Alert can patch me up." The yellow Autobot said. "Mirage needed those parts more than I did."

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FRAGGIN MIND?!" Ironhide bellowed. "Hound, why didn't you stop him?!"

"I couldn't!" The green Autobot yelled back. "He just started ripping parts out of himself and putting them into Mirage here, what was I supposed to do?!"

"Ratchet, that was illogical of you." Prowl said, his faceplates stern. "You're the Chief Medical Officer, and as such-"

"I don't have to listen to a slagging thing any one of you says when it comes to my patients." Ratchet snapped back. "This is part of my programming. If my patients need a part, I give it to them if there's nothing else available. My systems are built to handle it; just as long as I get back to the medical bay I'll be _fine_." He rose from his spot, flexing the finger joints of his right hand. "So shove that up your exhaust pipes." Ironhide opened his mouth to retort, but the blast of a horn had him shutting it again.

"Thank Primus, its Optimus." Hound said, blowing out a sigh of relief. "Let's just get Mirage loaded and out of here." Silent nods met this statement, but it didn't stop Ironhide from shooting a glare at Ratchet. Prowl sighed and subspaced his gun, while the yellow Autobot went back to check on his patient.

"And here things were going _so_ well…"

* * *

AN: Okay. I nabbed the TF movie guidebook a couple of days ago, that's what I've been using for information regarding the TF's body structures, any special ablities, types of weapons, what have you. When I got to the page on Frenzy, I noted that the little bugger's got a non-centralized logic net, meaning parts of his body can function independently even if they're disconnected from the main torso strut. He's also got two secondary neural processors, so considering that, the little freaky s.o.g. could possibly recover from the 'cut my own head off with my own weapon' accident.

As for Ratchet, it's also listed in the book that if needed, he can cannibalize his own systems to help a patient, so I'm assuming he can function for a decent amount of time until he can get repaired by another medic.


	7. Stable

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow some of their ideas. Also have no fear, the humor is making a return next chapter. I just need to get the serious parts all mapped out first.

* * *

**_Stable_**

"Stupidstupidstupid Autobot!" Barricade resisted the urge to slam a hand down on Frenzy's head to end the chattering; instead he forced himself to focus on the figure at the other side of the table.

"How long?" Swindle looked up from his work.

"I can wield him back together, but without a proper medic, he's going to have to do the rest of the work himself." Vile profanity spewed forth from Frenzy at this point, and this time Barricade gave into the urge.

"Do it." He instructed, one massive hand not-so-gently on top of his partner, keeping his mouthplates shut.

"I should be charging you for this." The smaller mech muttered, resuming his work.

"But you're not." Barricade replied. "Because the both of us have a common goal, and a common enemy, so to speak." There was silence, save for the muted sounds of Frenzy's cursing.

* * *

Sam and Mikaela looked at each other worriedly. All the Autobots were present in the waiting room outside the lab where Ratchet and Red Alert were working on Mirage. Nightfire had taken refuge in Chromia's arms, looking up at the femme and clicking sadly. In turn Chromia had cradled the little sparkling close, rocking her back and forth. The silence was suffocating, broken only when the door _hissed_ open and Ratchet emerged, stained with Energon and other fluids.

"Ratchet?" Optimus rumbled.

"He'll make it." The yellow Autobot replied. "However, it will take him some time to recover fully. The virus he was infected with was designed to destroy his CPU during the time he was in transition mode. But for some odd reason, it didn't activate until he crash-landed here."

"He will be okay though?" This from Sideswipe.

"He's in deep recharge right now. If anything, he won't be onlining at least for an orn or two. And even if he does come online, it's more than likely going to be for a few breems." The medic replied, and then his blue optics blinked as a tremor rippled though his frame. "Oh dear…" Another tremor and the yellow Autobot started to fall forward.

"Ratchet!" The door hissed open, and Red Alert was quick to catch the CMO.

"Alright, it's time to repair you." He said. "And no snark. If there is snark, that entire stash of hidden High-Grade is going straight to the Twins." Sunstreaker and Sideswipe perked up.

"High-Grade?"

"F…" Ratchet caught himself just in time, glaring at the smirking Ironhide. "Forget you!"

"Come on."

* * *

Chromia allowed herself a small smile as she lay back in the recharge bed, gently playing with Nightfire. The sparkling clicked happily, little arms and legs waving in the air. Watching her daughter, Chromia could feel the stress and horror of the day simply melt away, as if it had been a bad dream.

_But it wasn't._ A shudder passed though her chassis, she'd been very close to rejoining the Matrix, leaving her sparkmate and sparkling alone. So involved was she in her thoughts that she didn't notice when Ironhide strode in, coming to join her on the bed.

"Hey." Chromia started slightly as a pair of arms wrapped around her. "You alright?" Saying nothing, she relaxed into Ironhide's embrace, lifting one hand to place it on his arm.

"I'll be fine." She said. "Just that…" Ironhide didn't say anything, but propped his chin on top of the femme's head.

"We both knew what we were getting into." He rumbled softly. "And I made a promise before Primus that I'd protect both you and her." Chromia smiled softly.

"I know. The practical is always harder than the theory." She answered. Sensing she was being deprived of attention, Nightfire rolled onto her front, clicking loudly at her parents. "We haven't forgotten about you, little one."

"C'mere, runt." Ironhide said, snagging the sparkling by the scruff. "You might have been able to charm Bumblebee with those little blue optics, but it's not going to work on me." Nightfire squeaked, and then aimed said optics at her father. "No."

"Aww." Chromia crooned, cuddling into the weapons specialist even more, who allowed Nightfire to wriggle free and head straight for her mother. "Now you know you're going to have to be flexible."

"I wasn't flexible with Bumblebee, and he turned out exceptionally well."

"This is our daughter!" Chromia teased. The sparkling snuggled into her chassis, already shutting down into recharge due to the reassuring sound of the pump close to it. "Besides, she's already got the Twins under her spell."

"Mm." Was the grunted reply, Ironhide musing a select choice of words for the brothers internally. "Start shutting down, I'm here."

"Isn't this damaging for your big, bad, image? The unstoppable Ironhide of the Tri-Peninsular Torus States of Praxus, close friend and confidant of Optimus Prime, highest number of Decepticon kills, and the one who blew up the planet of Cyber Five? As how the humans say it…'spooning up' with his wife and sparkling?"

"Femme, the planet was going to blow up." Ironhide rumbled, shoving his sparkmate lightly. "Stop trying to cause trouble."

"That's not what Optimus said." Chromia replied, her optics dancing. "He-mmm!" For the black mech had turned her head and stopped any more words with a kiss. "Mmm." The two broke apart.

"Will you cease your prattling now?"

"You do know moves like that are how we got Nightfire in the first place." Ironhide smirked, stretching out to his full length on the bed.

"You're not allowed to do anything with the sparkling present." He rumbled, shutting his optics as he booted up his own recharge programs.

"Wuss." Chromia accused, her voice full of love and devotion. Her mate opened up one optic.

"You're paying for that later. Lights out."

* * *

The next morning found Ratchet slowly booting out of his own recharge.

"Ugh." Every chip in his body ached, despite the excellent job Red Alert had done, it was now time for him to pay the piper for his actions. _Optimus probably knows by now. Primus, I'm going to have my head handed to me on a platter._ Despite their close friendship, there was one very sore point the two Autobots often found themselves bucking heads on. _I'm not doing this for attention! My life is far less valuable than his, the other members of the team, or my patients. _

"Ratchet?" The yellow Autobot looked down, Mikaela was standing next to his foot.

"Mikaela! What are you doing here?" The human teen flushed, and then pointed to a makeshift bed in the corner.

"Keeping an eye on you. I took over for Red Alert around 3 A.M. this morning." She replied. "And before you even start, you've been teaching me how to treat and take care of you guys, so there's no good reason why you should start yelling at me for doing what you've taught me to do." Ratchet shut his mouth, Mikaela had a point. After Mission City she'd expressed an interest in learning the inner workings of the Cybertronians and the CMO had gladly accepted her as a student of sorts. Despite her small size, they had figured out ways for her to get around in the medical bay and to assist in repairs.

"Thank you Mikaela." He said. "I will be fine…once my frame doesn't feel like it's been stomped on by Omega. And I won't exert myself today. You go get some proper recharge time in." The dark-haired girl nodded, and went back to the corner to get her things. "Now, for some Energon and-" The yellow 'bot stopped as he entered the main treatment area of the 'bay.

"Hi Ratchet!"

"Hn." The CMO felt his coolant systems immediately start to go into overtime at the sight of the Twins, both sporting champion-size dents in their armor sitting on recharge beds.

"What the slag did you do to yourselves?" He snarled. "Not even the start of the orn and already you two bit-brains are going at each other!"

"It's Sunny's fault!" Sideswipe whined, putting a pout on his faceplate. "He called me half-clocked!"

"You are, you fraggin glitch!"

"Take that back!"

"No I won't!"

"Yes you will!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"WILL YOU TWO FRAGGERS SHUT THE PIT UP?!" Ratchet roared, unaware that the main medical bay door had opened. The Twins suddenly shut up, optics widening. In the silence that followed, the CMO heard a series of familiar clicks and squeaks.

_Oh Primus. _"Nightfire?" He ventured. More squeaks and clicks of delight. "…Chromia?" Silence. "Bumblebee?" No response. "…Prowl?"

"You wish." Ironhide rumbled ominously. Ratchet forced a smile onto his faceplates, turning around.

"My bad." Nightfire clicked happily, reaching out for the yellow medic. She didn't understand what those sounds had been, or why her father was now agitated towards her friend.

"I will take it out of your armor later." The weapons specialist said, stalking towards a makeshift playpen near Sideswipe. "Until then, watch her. I have to give in my report to Optimus before Prowl goes on the fritz."

"Right. I'll-" An alarm had him whipping around. "Mirage's recharge bed!"

* * *

Everything hurt. He wanted nothing more to do than to just sink back down into that sweet darkness, there he didn't hurt at all. But his systems stubbornly refused to obey his CPU; there was something he had to do first. If he did it, then he'd be allowed to rest again.

_Have to…warn…Optimus and the…others…_

_**Mirage? Mirage!**_ The Cybertronian tongue forced Mirage's reboot programs to assert themselves more fully. **_Mirage! _**

**_Ratchet?_** Everything seemed hazy, as if he was dreaming. Maybe that was it. He was probably dreaming. **_Optimus…must warn. Something…happened…_**

**_Mirage! Mirage, don't you offline! _**Another voice he thought he'd never hear again. **_Solider! State your designation and faction! _**

**_Autobot Mirage…sniper…Optimus. Tell him…Shockwave… _**

**_Shockwave?! Mirage? Mirage! Stay with us!_** But it was too late, for blissful darkness had risen up and taken the Autobot with it.

"He's in recharge again." Ratchet said, stepping back. "Blast it!"

"What in the-" With a quick glance at Nightfire, Sunstreaker censored himself. "What is Mirage doing babbling about Shockwave? I thought that computer on legs offlined vorns ago!"

"I'll go tell Prime." Ironhide said, turning and rushing out of the bay.

"Doc, do you think that's the reason why he was so badly hurt?" Sideswipe asked, a worried look on his faceplates.

"That is now a good possibility." Ratchet muttered, checking Mirage's vitals. "He's stable, now I'll bang out your dents, and so help me if you get in a fight again…"

"We won't." The red Twin promised. "And I'm sure Sunny feels the same way!" His yellow brother looked up from where he was playing with Nightfire.

"Hn."

* * *

AN: The bit about Ironhide blowing up the planet? The PSP movie tie-in game. D


	8. Learning Mode

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow some of their ideas.

* * *

_**Learning Mode**_

"You see." Perceptor began, warming to his subject. "The luminosity can be recreated by simply having the proper resources needed, in this case the nonexistence of said illumination in this box, these chemicals, and this beaker." Nightfire watched with curiosity as the scientist started to pour some liquid in the glass jar. "While the phenomenon was never fully explained appropriately, this is a rather adequate recreation of the event."

"Perceptor, you are going to glitch out her brain with all those big words." Bluestreak commented as he walked inside the lab.

"If humans can be successful in encoding their sparklings at an early age for astuteness and information, I do not see why the same cannot be said for Nightfire. Besides, if you may call to mind, Bumblebee adapted relatively well to the information uploads I gave him." Bluestreak made to open his mouthplate but found himself being elbowed by Hound, who had just entered. The green Autobot shook his head.

"Is that the Well of All Sparks display?" He asked. "Why didn't you just call me to show her a hologram of it?"

"And miss out an opportunity for education?"

"Or to fry the little one's CPU?" Bluestreak muttered, leaning into the crib and letting Nightfire grab at his fingers. "Start the show already!" To this Perceptor poured in a test tube full of more chemicals into the beaker, resulting in a pale glow. Small dots of light in different colors started to float up from its surface, and the liquid started to glow red, orange, blue, yellow and green at different intervals. Spirals drifted upwards in tiny tendrils, providing a stark contrast to the black background of the box. Nightfire's optics widened and she clicked excitedly, wobbling up on her feet and reaching out to try and touch the spectacle in front of her. But Perceptor had placed the box well out of reach, and so all she could do was watch. The three Autobots watched the sparkling's reaction, each of them musing their own memories.

"I loved going out there." Hound murmured. "Especially when the sun had set…against all the stars, the Well looked almost unworldly."

"If you believed the theories, it probably was." Bluestreak replied. To the Cybertronians, the Well of All Sparks had been their equivalent of the human monument Stonehenge. "I remember my creator telling me when I was small, that the lights coming up from the Well were actually sparks, floating out into the world to be born…" Silence followed this remark, both Perceptor and Hound gently patting the other 'bot on the back. However it was soon broken by a series of squeaks, Nightfire was gearing up for a mini-temper tantrum, due to the light show having ended and lack of attention being paid to her.

"Oh no!" Hound chuckled, picking up the sparkling. "No fits. We've had enough of those thanks to your big brother, remember those, Bluestreak?" Nightfire squeaked in indignation, kicking and squirming.

"Yeah. I think one of my auditory receptors went permanently offline one time." The blue-black Autobot replied, snagging one of the kicking little feet and tickling it. "Bee should have had that upgraded into a weapon, Primus! Siren sounded like a little robo-bird compared to him."

"Can you take her by the Twins?" Perceptor asked. "I need to update Wheeljack and First Aid on our situation with Earth's fuels after their meeting with Optimus."

"That's no problem." Hound replied. "We'll just get her all calmed down first." For Nightfire was still squeaking in rage, now in a full-blown temper tantrum.

* * *

"Mirage said something about Shockwave before he offlined?" Wheeljack exclaimed.

"He wasn't with us when we changed our course to come here." First Aid responded. "How is he?"

"He'll be fine with a couple orns' rest." Optimus responded. "But we were hoping that you would have a clue about what had happened to him." The two new arrivals shook their heads.

"I thought Shockwave had gone to the Pit vorns ago." The inventor remarked. "And good riddance too, but I guess I was wrong."

"Regardless, it is good to see you again." Optimus said. "Welcome home, old friends." The two Autobots smiled back at their leader. "First Aid, Ratchet has been asking about you…and in that vein, Wheeljack, you would do well to avoid him for a while. Your list made him go on the fritz." The inventor laughed, his fins flashing.

"Ha! Why do you think I did it?" He winked one optic. "But now what's this I hear about a youngling? Wasn't Bumblebee the only one around?"

"Ironhide and Chromia have started a family unit." Optimus replied. "Their little sparkling onlined several orns ago. Her name is Nightfire, and I'm sure you'll be seeing her in a few breems." He watched as First Aid and Wheeljack stared at him, and then nearly offlined themselves laughing.

"Ahahahaha! Ironhide…sparkling femme-bot? Heeheehee!"

"You wonder who's the boss in that unit! Hahaha!"

"Get a grip you two. Or else Wheeljack, I'll let Rachet know you're here! And First Aid, I still remember that incident at Iacon!"

"Awww, Prime!"

"You're no fun."

* * *

The sound of angry squeaks and clicks filled the air.

"Primus, she's been going strong for almost a cycle now!" Sideswipe complained. The red Twin had been trying to give Nightfire her afternoon Energon, but the little sparkling was still upset from earlier. "Sunny, c'mon man! Help!"

"Put her down and let her storm it out." Was the reply. "It'll make her tired, she'll drop into recharge for the rest of the orn, wake up long enough to eat and then go back into recharge again."

"Dude, you know I didn't like that when we did it with 'Bee. Ah, Nightfire, come on!" In reply, Sunstreaker walked over, picked up the baby 'bot and plunked her down on her aft inside the playpen. Suddenly now somewhat alone and penned up, the little sparkling looked up at Sunstreaker with wide optics. Mouthplate wobbling, she started to wail.

"Aaaahhh!! Aaahhh!!"

_Come on, Twin!_

_She'll be fine. _"Besides, once she's conked out, we can turn our attention to bigger problems." Sunstreaker said, pausing only to kneel and stroke the little sparkling's head in an attempt to soothe her. "The last you and I heard of any 'Con activity before arriving here was that mess by Jiaxi."

"Bro, Jiaxi pales in comparison to Shockwave." _And I'm willing to bet a whole stash of High-Grade that's who Starbitch's hauling aft to. _

"Tell Prime that." Was the reply. "He'll listen, but we can't do much of anything currently, we have to wait for the trouble to come to us." Nightfire was starting to quiet somewhat, blinking fluid from her optics. "There, see? Now you're all tired and cranky. Temper-fits don't do you much good, not until you're older and have the energy to sustain them." Nightfire clicked, settling down for curling up into a ball underneath the yellow Twin's soothing fingers. "And because you're a femme, you can throw much more stylish ones…and get away with more." Another series of quiet clicks, almost inaudible as the little sparkling's systems shut down for recharge. "See? What did I tell you? You want me to watch her while you go talk to Prime or shall I?"

"I'll do it."

* * *

The Autobot leader raised an eye ridge at the red Twin in front of him.

"You think Starscream may try to contact Shockwave?"

"I know it doesn't sound like much…" Sideswipe said, pausing. "But wouldn't it make sense? Granted that the computer chooses to believe whatever slag the backstabbing glitch feeds him-" Here he got a glare from Prowl but ignored it. "he'd defiantly be a 'Con that would come running here. Pit, all you have to do is mention Megatron's death and that's enough for him to automatically come here wanting to rip our sparks out."

"He does have a point, Optimus." Prowl stated, crossing his arms.

"I know. But we can't afford to send anyone out on a wild turbofox chase at this point. We still need to get settled here, after yesterday I have the suspicion there might be more Decepticons among the humans, and then there's the safety of little Nightfire to consider." The red and blue Autobot said. "All of you know Megatron's orders didn't end with the loss of Cybertron."

"KOS. Kill On Sight." Sideswipe muttered. "Why in the Pit, Optimus? Why all those innocent sparklings and femmes? It doesn't make sense!"

"Looking back now, many of his orders don't compute." Prime responded. "For a long time, I wondered…" He trailed off.

"Wondered what, Optimus?" Prowl asked.

"If there wasn't something else driving Megatron's actions." _And then there was something else. _For back when Bumblebee had been younger, Ironhide had cornered Optimus with an interesting theory.

_Optimus stared at his old friend, fear twisting itself around his spark._

_"Bumblebee what?" Surely he'd heard wrong._

_"Bumblebee sensed where that Pit-fraggin-bootleg was. Knew his exact location was and everything. And now that I remember it…he can do the same for __as well." Blue optics narrowed. "Prime, do you have something you're not telling me?"_

It'd taken everything he knew and then some to distract Ironhide away from that subject. Yet from then on Optimus, whenever he was with Bumblebee, would often catch the black mech looking at the both of them thoughtfully, as if he was trying to puzzle out something. Bumblebee on the other hand…

_"You…an' him…different." The youngling had muttered one day as he'd entered recharge. "You…Opt…all warm. No scared. But…him…" Inaudible clicks. "Scary. All dark…and cold. Like something…really wrong."_

From that point on, Optimus Prime had never been able to fully shake the belief that something else was behind his brother's actions. Not that Megatron escaped the entire blame for the situation, no. Prime knew it had been his brother, and only him, that had tried to use the All-Spark as a source of power for himself. Or the war that followed. No…it had been after those particular orders…even when they had been issued. A snort from Sideswipe had him returning to reality.

"Seriously, something or someone giving orders to Mega-freak? Kinda hard to process."

"Interesting theory, but now I suppose we will never find out." Prowl remarked. "Do you have anything else, Sideswipe?"

"That's just it for the moment. Sunny and I were racking our brains for any 'Con activity before we arrived here, but the only thing that came to our CPUs was the Jiaxi incident."

"That was out of Autobot control." Prime mused. "The team had no choice in the matter. Anything else?"

"No sir."

"Right…by the way, where is little Nightfire?"

"Asleep with Sunny." The red Twin replied. "Took us forever to calm her down though, she was throwing a temper tantrum about something."

"You two should be experts on that." Prowl rumbled with a smile. "All of us should."

"Yeah, well Bumblebee just may end up being an Avatar of Primus in comparison to this one." Sideswipe said. "Trigger-happy's spawn?"

"Be nice, Sideswipe!"

"I am! I adore the little 'bot but look at her creators! The little one may already have violence bred into her spark! She might go tearing around with a pair of cannons like 'Hide! This is a-ow!" For Optimus had gotten up from his desk and strode over, picking up Sideswipe much like how he would pick up Nightfire by her scruff-bar…but instead, since Sideswipe was full grown and did not have a scruff-bar, settled for the back of his neck armor. "Gah!"

"Stop it or else I'll have Ironhide use you for target practice."

"Okay okay! Drop me! Wait! Don't!"

"With pleasure." Optimus said, a grin appearing on his faceplates. He let go of Sideswipe. "Oops." The red Twin looked up from the floor.

"That's just not right."

* * *

"BITCHES! BOW TO ME, YOUR MASTER! BWAHAHAH!!"

"Jazz, shut it!" Ironhide snapped, taking aim at a drone. "Primus, I hate sharing the slagging firing rage with you. Either kill off the fraggin thing or don't!" The Special Ops officer was tearing through an army of drones, tackling each one to the ground before ripping either it's head or other body parts off, almost dancing among his 'victims'.

"Man, don't be trying to mess up my groove!" Jazz snapped back, flexing his 'claws'. "Not my fault you were sparked without a cool chip in your body!"

"Cool chip my aft." The black mech muttered. "Short circuit."

"What was that?!"

"Short circuit."

"Take that back! Or else I'll hand you your aft and shame you in front of your femmes!" Ironhide chuckled to himself, fighting with Jazz was better than not fighting with him at all.

"Isn't your aft supposed to be on patrol duty?"

"In a bit." The silver mech answered, firing off several shots at another drone. "Actually, I've got to go and drop off a report to the humans about what happened. Optimus reckons it's time we let them know about everything…aside from little Nightfire that is."

"I know we agreed to just let Sam and Mikaela know about her, but I confess, I want to tell Captain Lennox." Ironhide rumbled, dropping his right cannon. The two had become good friends since Mission City. "I don't feel right not letting him know."

"Well, ask then. Makes sense, the two of you now have even more in common…you're outnumbered by femmes."

"You slaggin little-" Jazz cackled, dancing away from Ironhide's grasp.

"I need to carry off my report now!" He cracked, saluting the weapons specialist.

"I'm going to reprogram you with a rivet roller!" Ironhide roared.

"Hasn't Chromia already done that? Yahoo!"

"JAZZ!"

* * *

AN: Well of All-Sparks: an indicator I've spent too much time reading Teletran-1, the TF wilki. Expect me to be mangling more ideas from there.

Avatar of Primus: Made up myself due to the fact I can't find anything that the TFs would consider 'angelic'ish.


	9. Resolutions

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow some of their ideas. Also, re-reading and plotting out this fic made me realize that the timespan of a 1 1/2 year after Mission City doesn't make much sense, so now the fic is just a year after MC. No half included. I beg your pardon for this mistake.

Also, thanks to those who have been quick to spot the little errors I've been making. A few of them are mine, the others...I don't know why, but ffnet seems to like messing up my stuff. And thank you, thank you for the ideas left in reviews. ;) Thar might be a verrry embarassing situation for Ironhide next chapter.

* * *

**_Resolutions_**

A month passed. Sam and Mikaela returned to school, this was their senior year and as such, there was graduation, prom, and other things to consider. However they still continued to visit the Autobots every chance they got, the most recent being after Sam and Mikaela had mailed off several college applications.

It also happened to be the time when Bumblebee was just fed up…

* * *

"I'm so sick and tired of this!" Sam resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead he just leaned back on the lawn chair, reaching over for his glass of iced tea. "I'm trying to be flexible, really I am, but everything is just 'Nightfire did this, Nightfire did that!' I'm about ready to jump off a cliff!"

"Bee." Sam started.

"And why, why, _why_ are they still treating me like a youngling? I've fought! I've done all sorts of things, can't I at least be treated like an adult?"

"Bee."

"Go to bed Bumblebee. You can't go to this meeting Bumblebee. You can't do this Bumblebee. You can't do that Bumblebee. I am so sick of it!"

"Bee."

"You would think that I-"

"BEE!" Sam yelled. "Dude! You're MY age!" This shut the yellow spy up. "Hell, I can't even do half the stuff you mentioned. Didn't Prowl say you still had one more year to go, and then you'd be considered an adult?!"

"That's slag!"

"Bumblebee…" Sam got up and faced the upset Autobot. "I'm in your corner here. Really I am. If you're that upset about it, go and talk to either Ironhide or Optimus." This selected a "hmph!" from Bumblebee. "I'm serious! I mean, they're like your foster parents…heck, nearly all of the Autobots, huh?"

"…" A frustrated sigh escaped Bumblebee's exhaust, and he sat down. "I'm sorry Sam. It's just that…"

"What? What is it?"

"I guess…it's just me seeing Nightfire and her parents." The yellow 'bot replied. "I'm still…not used to it. And the whole..big brother thing."

"It's a lot to get used to." Sam agreed, coming over to sit next to his friend. "But still. Talk to either Prime or Optimus. Or maybe even better, see if you could request a mission someplace around here. Get off base, get some fresh air and that stuff."

"Do you think that might help?"

"Logistics-wise it's going to be a nightmare but yeah. I think you should go for it." There was a comfortable silence."

"…Did I tell you she started crawling around?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. She can only go short distances though. If she tries anything longer, she just curls up into recharge. Which is okay, because then it makes her easy to find…but after that incident in which she crawled into Wheeljack's lab, curled up in a cupboard and went into recharge, Wheeljack then proceeded to blow _up_ his lab…at least the far side of it, the side Nightfire was on was okay-"

"Holy hell!"

"Yeah. Ironhide, Chromia, Jazz, and the Twins got thrown in the brig that night."

"Get the kid a leash."

"Not a bad idea."

* * *

Prowl strode down the hallway towards the brig. His audios had picked up an all-too familiar clicking sound, and vorns of experience told the head of security exactly what it was.

"Alright." He bent over, lifting up a ball of dark-blue by the scruff-bar. Nightfire squeaked, tucking in her arms and legs even more, her tiny blue optics meeting Prowl's own. "Enough exploring down here for the day." The little bot clicked, looking at him beseechingly with moist optics. She'd been having fun, what was wrong with that? This place was interesting and had so many nice spots to curl up and nap in…

"Off to Ratchet with you." The Autobot ordered. "This has certainly made sure you're going into recharge today." He placed Nightfire in his arms and turned back around, walking back the way he came. Nightfire clicked happily at the attention, snuggling into Prowl's arms and looking up at him with adoring optics. "See, you're only doing that because I'm paying attention to you. Primus help us if you're not getting noticed." A smile offset his stern tone however, and Nightfire squeaked in glee before reaching up and wrapping her little arms around Prowl's neck.

* * *

"How could you lose her?!"

"I just turned my optics away for one breem!" Hound protested. "One!"

"Settle down, I found her." Prowl said, walking into the 'bay. He was immediately accosted by Hound, who picked up the now crazily-giggling sparkling.

"That's not funny." He scolded. "It's not funny." Nightfire only clicked harder with laughter. "If I lost you, your mother and father would both offline me, reactivate me, and then offline me again. Violently!" Nightfire cooed, blinking sparkly optics at the scout.

"Primus help us, Bumblebee's probably been giving her lessons on how to get out of trouble." Ratchet said, coming over and scanning the little 'bot quickly. "She give you the 'big wet optics and curl up into a tiny-as-possible-ball-to-magnify-my-cuteness' routine?"

"Sure did." Nightfire was clicking away at Ratchet, holding out her arms. However she was starting to blink tiredly, her clicks and squeaks starting to lower in volume.

"Either way, she's going to be out for a couple of cycles." The medic commented, taking the now-sleepy dark-blue paintjob and settling her down in her crib. Nightfire clicked, curling up into her pillow, squeaking when Ratchet gently covered her with a blanket. "But just like Bumblebee, she's going to get more active, because she's in such a rich environment for mental and physical stimulation. I've had to increase her data uploads quite a bit over the past several days."

"Has she started jabbering yet?" Ratchet shot a glare at Sunstreaker, who had entered the room. "She looks like a talker; I just want to know so I can offline my audio receptors."

"Funny, Sunstreaker." He said. "Just for that, _you_ get the evening shift with her."

"What?!" The glare from Ratchet had the yellow Twin bristling, though inside he was cheered at the idea of watching the little sparkling again. "Grr."

"Alright, now that we have her taken care of…" The mechs bit back assorted moans and groans as Wheeljack came into the lab, pushing a cart with several cubes and glasses on it.

"Oh Primus no." Hound griped. "No. No more, Ratchet!"

"Well, what do you want us to do? Run on empty?" The CMO replied. "Pick amongst yourself who gets to play guinea-bot." The Autobots looked at each other, and then Prowl was shoved forward.

"Come on guys, I know it's been hard, but how are we going to be able to tell what works if none of you try it?" Wheeljack said, his fins flashing. "It'd be real nice to just live on Energon, but while we're working on modifying that, we need an alternate fuel source."

"None of that is that Shell crap, is it?" Hound asked, eyeing the cart suspiciously. "Talk about a pack of lies, they don't clean that for anything!"

"BP is good, but it just doesn't interact with your parts well." Sunstreaker added. "Or with certain 'bots. Sideswipe kept spewing up the contents of his tanks every time he tried that stuff."

"It's none of that. This is fuel we put through our own processor." Ratchet replied. Prowl gingerly took a sip from one beaker.

"Hey!" He said, looking at the glass before downing the rest. "This stuff isn't half bad!"

"Wait, Prowl, that's the-"

"HHHRRGGGGHHHH!!"

"One for Optimus." Wheeljack finished weakly, watching as the security officer proceeded to deposit the contents of his tanks all over the floor. "My bad, I'll clean that up."

"Your bad?!" Sunstreaker yelled, ignoring Hound's attempts to keep him silent for the sake of the sleeping Nightfire. "_Your_ bad?!"

"Shut up!" Hound hissed. "Do you want to wake her up?!"

"I should put you on report for this!" Prowl snapped, being helped over to a recharge bed by Ratchet. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Optimus's alt form demands diesel instead of gas." Wheeljack said in defense. "He's been doing okay so far, but things will be much better if we figure this out."

"Out of curiosity, what are you going to feed the runt?" Sunstreaker asked, earning a round of glares from his fellow 'bots.

"_Nightfire_," Ratchet started, "more than likely will be on the solar-Energon. In fact, that is probably the best for all of us."

"Energon's Energon, I don't care." Hound remarked, checking Nightfire again.

"You will when you start cleaning your tanks again." Ratcher remarked acidly.

* * *

Chromia entered the rec room. As she had suspected, Bumblebee was there, watching something on the Autobot-sized T.V.

"Bumblebee?" The yellow bot looked up.

"Oh, Chromia!" He sat up. "Are you looking for Ironhide or Nightfire? 'Hide's at Autobot City and Nightfire is-"

"I was looking for you. May I sit?"

"Sure." The silver-blue femme sat next to the spy.

"I wished to say…thank you." Her optics met Bumblebee's own. "For being such a good big brother to Nightfire. I know this situation has been rather stressful on you."

"Oh..I…I…"

"Ironhide told me stories of when he was taking care of you when you were a sparkling. You know, he loves you as if you were his own. And…" Here Chromia paused. "I would…like to see you as the same." At this, Bumblebee's optics grew moist.

"…Really?" He whispered.

"Yes." Chromia responded. "You've been such a big help to the both of us, and I would like to get to know you better. That is, if you-" She couldn't say anything else, for all of a sudden Bumbleblee had all but thrown herself into her arms, hugging her.

_Aww_Perhaps this had been what he'd needed. Having Nightfire take away all the attention he'd been used to, and right before he became an adult in their culture. Chromia made a mental note to herself to speak to her sparkmate, perhaps the two of them could spend some time together. For the time being she sat back, her fingers gently rubbing Bumblebee's head. _Poor youngling.__ No idea who his Creator was, being raised by warriors and having to learn how to fight as soon as he could walk. And __Nightfire__ may have to learn the same things. _Sighing, Chromia forced those thoughts from her CPU.

"What's this you're watching?" She asked.

"Some show about human police teams." Bumblebee said, turning so he could see the screen better.

"Really? I didn't know they had those."

"Yeah." The yellow bot curled up next to Chromia, optics blinking. "It's actually pretty interesting."

"That's good."

* * *

Optimus had entered the rec room, but upon seeing Bumblebee and Chromia, had silently backed out. Watching the two, he was filled with a sense of guilt and sorrow.

_Elita. _She would have simply loved Bumblebee, if only he'd not been such a coward.

_It had been relatively peaceful at the time, the type the humans called the 'quiet before the storm'. _

_"Mm."__Optimus__ rumbled, almost in recharge from the feel of those fingers on his receptors. "That's nice."_

_"See? I told you I could get you to relax." __Elita__ answered with laughter in her voice. _

_"This is nice. __Very nice."__Optimus__ closed his optics, the sound of __Elita's __pump__ a reassuring beat next to an audio receptor. "I could stay like this all __orn_

_"Then I'd have to kick you off my lap at some point, I have work to do!" __Elita__ responded, but she made no move to follow through on her threat. The __Autobot__ leader chose not to move as well, electing only to open one optic and look at the __viewscreen__. There was no need for words, the moment was shared by both __mechs__, and perhaps something else would have been done, had it not been for-_

_"Oops. Sorry!"_

_"HIDE!" __Optimus__ bellowed, his head flying up from __Elita's__ lap. The black __mech__ grinned crookedly and ducked out of the recreation room. __"Primus!__ When I get my hands on him…"_

_"They're only teasing you __Optimus__. They're not used to seeing you with me around." A pair of pink arms wrapped around red shoulders. "He's got a bit of a crush on __Chromia__ though. She told me he's been trying to work up the nerve to approach her, but hasn't done it yet."__"Ha!"_

_"And don't you __tell him I just said that to you."_

_"Femme, do you know how hard it is to hold something over him?" __Optimus__ demanded._

_"No."_

"Elita." Optimus murmured. _My love, where are you now? Will you forgive this fool for his mistakes? _It was getting harder every day…watching Bumblebee, Ironhide, Chromia, and little Nightfire. His spark simply ached for the twin of its own, but he didn't have any idea of how he could begin to find Elita. Nor could he just abandon everything, he had too many responsibilities. The feel of optics on his back had him turning, seeing the black figure of Ironhide standing not too far away.

"Something wrong, Optimus?"

"Nothing." The Autobot leader responded. "Just thinking about something. Where's Nightfire?"

"Asleep." A chuckle. "Do you know, she escaped Hound and crawled all the way down to the brig today? Prowl found her and brought her back. I think Bumblebee might be passing on some of his bad habits." Ironhide felt his spirits lift as Optimus broke out into laughter.

"Too early to tell her function yet, my friend." He rumbled, and then winked one optic. "And no trying to 'program' her for weaponry, 'Hide. Ratchet will remove your cannons while they're active and you're still online!"

"Let him try." Ironhide muttered, lovingly stroking one of the said monsters.

"**AAAAAHHHH!!****AAHHHHHH!!**" The scream had both 'bots whipping around and making a run for the medical bay. Behind them the door to the rec room was almost torn down by Chromia and Bumblebee rushing out.

* * *

"You crazy aft!" Jazz hissed at Sunstreaker.

"Aaaahhhhh!!"

"No, no, Nightfire, see? The sock puppet's gone now!" Sideswipe said, trying to reassure the upset sparkling. Nightfire only clutched her pillow closer, squeezed her optics shut and continued to scream. "Bright idea, Jazz!"

"I'm not the one who was babbling about vain Autobots and how you beat them up with a metal bar!"

"That was Sunny!"

"It was your sock puppet WITH the bar!"

"AAAHHHHHH!!"

"_What_ did you two ?" This from Chromia, who had beaten everyone to the bay. Rushing over, she picked up the sobbing and screaming sparkling. Nightfire clung to her mother, burying her head in Chromia's chassis and wailing.

"It wasn't me!" Jazz defended himself.

"Like Pit it wasn't!" Sunstreaker roared.

"LANGUAGE!"Ironhide bellowed, hurrying over to his mate and sobbing sparkling.

"What in Primus' name is going on here?" Optimus demanded as Bumblebee moved past him. "Who upset Nightfire?" Then he resisted a groan as Jazz and the twins pointed at each other. "You lot again."

"Optimus, I can explain." The Special Ops officer said. "Nightfire woke up, 'Hatchet went for her Energon, and we wanted to keep her entertained until he came back. These two bit-brains here had made sock puppets-"

"What's a sock puppet?"

"Something the humans put on their hands to entertain children. You make a face on it, put it on, and move its mouth with your fingers-I mean, it keeps the human sparklings entertained."

"Only he started to tell a story." Sunstreaker, pointing at his twin. "And it was a stupid one too!"

"Was not!"

"Sideswipe started to go on about this silly Autobot that liked to look in mirrors all the time-"

"Jazz, one more word and I will-"

"And then said the only way for that Autobot to see sense was to hit him with a metal pole-"

"IT WAS A JOKE!"

"The next thing I know he's beating the living sl-I mean stuff out of his brother's sock puppet with a metal pole-"

"WHAT?" The resulting roar from both Ironhide and Chromia had every 'bot clapping their hands over audio receptors. Optimus wisely gestured for Bumblebee to take Nightfire from her mother's arms and to hurry out of the 'bay, because the two sparkmates looked like they were about to go on the fritz.

"YOU SONS OF GLITCHES!"


	10. Narrative

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow some of their ideas.

* * *

**_Narrative_**

Rebooting hurt. The pain was still there, Mirage could dimly remember coming online before…he'd heard Ratchet and Ironhide-he'd tried to say something, but all he could get out was a name…

_Shock…wave…_

A massive form of purple leering up over him, no face at all save for one hideous eye set right in the center of its head, one hand reaching out for him as the other arm lifted up, revealing a gun…

_You are no longer deemed necessary._

And then all of a sudden, colored spots started to dance in front of his optics as all his systems onlined at once, and Mirage opened his mouthplates to scream, still caught in memory/nightmare. But a hand slammed down on him, cutting off the scream before it began…

"Calm down! Mirage, come out of it!" In his panic, the white and blue Autobot thrashed around. "Mirage! It's me, Ratchet!" The familiar name was enough to jolt Mirage's processors, and as his logic center took over, he saw the Autobot CMO leaning over him, a worried expression on his faceplates.

"Ratchet? I…" Another memory hit, he had to warn Optimus! "Ratchet! Optimus! I need to-"

"_Relax._" Ratchet snarled, shoving the sniper back down onto the recharge bed. "You woke up long enough to babble Shockwave's name to us, so we have the idea that something's not right. Now if you keep thrashing around I'm going to deactivate you myself, understand?!" Mirage's frame sagged in relief.

"Uhhggghh." Leaning back, he closed his optics…but then they flew open again. "Chromia!"

"With Ironhide someplace. Now shut up, you'll wake up the sparkling!" Another shudder from Mirage, and Ratchet softened his tone somewhat. "You've been out for several orns. Just take it easy, you're still in recovery."

"Mmm…huh?!" The medic bit back the urge to shove Mirage back down as he flew up again. "Sparkling?"

"Yes. There." Ratchet pointed to the snoozing Nightfire. "Keep it shut. She got active after the sun set and didn't settle down until _very_ late last night." Mirage felt his lower jaw joint drop as he stared at the dark-blue paintjob.

"Who…wha…"

"Ironhide and Chromia. Family unit. Femme sparkling. Enough said."

"_Ironhide__ and __Chromia_ Nightfire twitched at the volume, before releasing a squeak of content and snuggling even deeper into her pillow. To this Ratchet gave in to his baser instincts, and slammed Mirage on the head with a wrench. The muffled bellow of pain was music to his audio receptors.

* * *

"My aft, my aft, ow." Prowl bit back a grin at the sight of Sideswipe holding his rear. "I can't move!"

"Serves you right." Sunstreaker grunted. The security officer raised one eye ridge at the sight of the yellow Twin reading a holo-book. "When do we bust out this fraggin joint?"

"Another cycle." Was the response.

"My aft."

"Stop bitching." A grumpy retort from Jazz. "This is all your fault anyway."

"How is this my fault?!" At this both the Special Ops officer and the yellow Twin sat up, and Prowl found it prudent to clear his vocalizer.

"Settle down."

"Why did those two get to leave before us?"

"Because they needed to take care of Nightfire. And they apologized as well for fritzing out."

"I must have revenge for my aft!"

"Primus! Chromia didn't hit you that hard!"

"You wanna bet! Come look at it!"

"Why the Pit would I want to look at your aft?" A grin was on Sunstreaker's face, he was enjoying baiting his twin.

"Ratchet didn't even treat it!"

"Hatchet would have ripped you a new exhaust hole." Was the response from Jazz. "The dent would have been the least of your worries." Choked laughter from Sunstreaker, and even Prowl felt his mouthplates twitch.

"Stop it." He ordered.

"Frag you!"

"No no, frag YOU." Jazz replied. A sharp report had all three 'bots jumping, Prowl had fired his gun at the ceiling.

"Shut it, all of you." He resumed his seat. "Sideswipe, Ratchet will see you when you're out of the bay. So take it like a 'bot until then."

"I don't want to!"

"Shut UP already!"

"I don't want to!"

"Primus! How'd I get sparked with you?!"

"I ask myself that same question every orn!"

"I ask myself how the Pit did I get stuck with you two!"

"Shut it Jazz!" Before Prowl could open his mouth again, a flashing light on his board had him pressing it.

"Shut up! Yes?"

_Release them all out of the brig and get up to the medical bay. _Came the voice of Optimus. _Mirage is awake._

* * *

Chromia came over to the recharge bed, offering Mirage a canister of Energon.

"How are you feeling?" Gratefully Mirage took the can, turning it around and around in his hands.

"Honestly? I guess I missed quite a bit." He replied. Ratchet had given him a brief summary of what happened a year ago at Mission City. "Wow. It's…going to take some getting used to."

"Optimus didn't have a choice."

"No, I know he didn't have a choice. And it was the right call. As long as the AllSpark existed, the war was never going to stop." Mirage answered. Like many of the Autobots, he'd had a hard time adjusting to living the life of a warrior, and an even harder time adjusting to the fact that he wasn't living among the 'upper-class' of Cybertronian society. But eventually he'd found his niche, often teaming up with Hound for missions.

"It's a lot to process, I know." Chromia murmured. "It took me a while too. But despite all the organics here, Earth is a very good place. And…I found Ironhide again. I wouldn't give my life up here for anything in the galaxy. "

"I heard congratulations were in order." The femme smiled at this, her optics glancing over to check on the sleeping sparkling.

"Thank you."

"Rich 'bot!" Jazz boomed as he bounced into the bay, and then winced as Chromia shot him a glare. "Sorry, sorry, won't wake 'Fire." The rest of the Autobots trailed in after the silver 'bot, giving Mirage cheerful greetings or coming over to his beside. The last was Optimus.

"Mirage."

"Optimus." The sniper answered. "It's good to see you again."

"It is good to see you too, old friend. You had us worried there." At this Mirage chuckled bashfully, putting a hand behind his head.

"Sorry."

"What happened to you?" Wheeljack asked.

"That's what I want to know." Optimus rumbled. "Ratchet says you're fit to at least talk to us, you muttering Shockwave's name has had us all wondering what is going on." The sniper nodded, straightening.

"My team joined up with Arcee's own a while back." He began. "We were doing much the same thing you were, looking for the AllSpark from world to world. Considering that Starscream had followed your team Prime, we thought we had a good chance of finding the AllSpark without any Decepticon interference. But then we had a run-in with Soundwave's own team, and well…" He gestured. "Things went downhill very quickly.""We spent half the time running from Starscream and the other half trying to recon without the buggers finding us." Ironhide grunted. "What I want to know is how did Shockwave get into the whole mess?"

"Cybertron." Mirage answered. Dead silence filled the bay.

"…What does Cybertron have to do with Shockwave?" Hound finally ventured.

"Everything." Mirage answered. His optics were filled with worry as he looked at his friends. "Cybertron…I don't know how to say it, but…the planet's moving."

"What?!" Optimus was quick to hold up a hand to stall off the rising amount of noise.

"Mirage, explain yourself." He ordered. "How can our mother planet move? It's stationary, and has no equipment to just go…'floating around' the galaxy."

"I know it sounds crazy sir, but it's the truth." The sniper responded. "I have recordings of it and the data to prove it, Ratchet downloaded it from me today-"

"And I'm still putting it back together. That virus was doing a number on your systems." The CMO replied.

"Alright, alright. You found out Cybertron is moving." Chromia interrupted. "Then what?"

"We went to investigate, but things only got stranger."

_The last time he'd seen the surface of his __homeworld__, it had been littered with the fallen bodies of the dead, blast holes gorged into the surface, and buildings no more than blackened husks. __But now…_

_"What is going on here?" __Arcee__ whispered; her optics wide. She, Mirage, Ultra Magnus and Hoist were standing on the outskirts of __Cybertropolis__. Once one of the largest cities on __Cybertron__, it had been completely destroyed during the Great War. But before their stunned optics, __Cybertropolis__ was being rebuilt, even at the distance they were at, it was possible to see the large lumbering form of the Guardian Robots clearing debris, removing corpses, and beginning construction on new buildings. "Primus…"_

_Decepticons__, maybe?"__ Hoist asked. __"Mirage?__ What are you seeing through your scope?"_

_"Pretty much the same thing you're looking at." The sniper responded. "Those are defiantly the Guardian Robots alright. What the Pit they're doing is beyond me."_

_"I thought everyone had left __Cybertron__." Magnus said. _

_"Apparently not."__ Mirage replied. "If anything, those Guardians are under someone's control."_

_Autobots__ maybe?"_

_"Or 'Cons."__Arcee__ responded. "Ultra Magnus, what should we do?"_

_"Mirage, you're the best one we have for recon right now." The __Autobot__ responded. "Head in, see what you can find out, and get out. We'll meet back here in five cycles."_

_"Right."__ Mirage said, __subspacing__ his rifle and activating his electro-disrupter._

* * *

"It was unsettling." Mirage murmured. "Just…to walk though and see the city being rebuilt from the ground up, and not knowing who was behind it."

"I can imagine." Wheeljack said.

"Did you get any clues?" Prowl asked.

"Whoever rebuilt and reprogrammed the Guardian Robots had given them the order to work on Cybertropolis for a while prior to our arrival. Nearly all the debris was gone and a good number of buildings had been finished."

"How much of the city?" First Aid asked.

"I'd say…" Mirage paused. "45 percent." This elected several low whistles from his listeners.

"That's almost half the city!" Bumblebee exclaimed.

"What happened next?" Sunstreaker wanted to know.

* * *

_It was taking every ounce of self-control Mirage possessed to not turn tailpipe and haul out as if the Pit itself was after him. The Guardian Robots weren't aware of his presence, but to just walk though what had been a ghost town for __vorns__ and __vorns__…to see it being rebuilt and not have any idea of who or why...and even more unsettling, the air about the place. The sniper couldn't help it, he shuddered. It felt as if time was standing still, a bad memory that could never be erased, despite the brand new buildings and the fresh coats of paint that were going up/being placed._

_"Primus…" He muttered to himself. A cycle into his explorations had revealed that the bodies and other debris were being carted out of the city, more than likely towards some disposal unit. Residential sectors looked as if they had been getting the attention first, many of them already finished and awaiting furnishings. The transit system was already done, the Guardians were using it to ferry supplies back and forth._

_"The others are never going to believe this." Lucky for him he'd activated his recorders, not that they hadn't been turned on, ever since he and his team had encountered __Cybertron__ floating __it's normal orbit, everyone had been recording everything they saw. So involved was he in his reconnaissance that he didn't notice the looming shadow behind him…_

_And then everything had gone to Pit._

* * *

"There was a large explosion outside the city. Trying to track it, I realized that it had come from where I'd left Arcee and the others. I didn't think, I just immediately activated my communicator…"

"And Shockwave was all over you." Sideswipe said. Mirage nodded.

"Right. I had no idea how he'd been able to trail me, and I know it was dumb of me to open my com-link like that but I thought I was safe with my disruptor on." He lifted one hand to his side. "He slammed a blade into me, I guess that was how he uploaded the virus. I also remember getting into a fight with him…afterwards I can dimly recall Magnus yelling over the radio for us to get off-planet. Everything else is a blur until I landed here." He looked at Optimus. "I know it sounds crazy…but you believe me, don't you?"

"Of course." Prime rumbled. "Without hesitation, Mirage! Your story sounds 'out there' in truth, but we all know you well enough that you wouldn't make up such a lie."

"Yeah, you don't have the CPU processors for it." Jazz cracked, and then ducked as Mirage threw an empty Energon can at him.

"From what I've seen so far, the data does back up his story." Ratchet said. "But like I said, it got affected by the virus, so it's going to take me a while to do full recovery."

"That's fine." Mirage said earnestly. "Just…thank you. Thank you ever so much." Prime smiled, going over to his friend and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Rest, Mirage. You've earned it."

* * *

AN: My plans for Ironhide got upstaged by Mirage's bit. But have no fear, there will be humilation. And yes, I am mangling ideas from Teletran-1 again.


	11. Time

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow some of their ideas.

* * *

**_Time_**

Leaving Mirage in the hands of Ratchet, the Autobots dispersed, some to cover their shifts on the Ark, others to Autobot City. Some however, decided to hold a meeting of their own.

"Can Cybertron move? You bet your skid plates it could." Wheeljack said, fins flashing green. "Wouldn't even require that much either. If the planet's mass is light enough or even like you suggested Optimus, having some type of propulsion system that we or the Decepticons didn't know about."

"Aside from that, the idea of Cybertropolis being rebuilt..." Prowl stated. "And the Guardian Robots. Who or what would want to-"

"If anything, I'd guess Shockwave was behind it." Wheeljack answered. "Now that I think about it, he was never mentioned in any of the reports we managed to send each other before we really got too far apart. And I could see him staying behind on Cybertron after Starscream took control of the 'Cons, those two never really got along."

"You think that computer-on-legs is acting on his own?" Bluestreak asked, incredulous. "Come on, Wheeljack!"

"No, Wheeljack has a very credible hypothesis." Perceptor remarked. "It has been many vorns since Shockwave had any sort of contact with Megatron, perhaps as time passed his processes might have changed."

"So we can assume two things. The first is that Megatron perhaps left Shockwave with orders to try and rebuild Cybertron, or that Shockwave is acting on his own." Optimus summarized. "And all the while, our home planet now has settled into a wandering orbit."

"Wouldn't the destruction of the AllSpark have done something to Cybertron though?" Bluestreak asked.

"No, we pretty much destroyed the planet ourselves." Prowl glumly replied. "With the AllSpark gone though, we can't restore our home…"

"I wouldn't say that. There's always another way!" Perceptor exclaimed. "It just would take time and research, but I'm sure there's something we could do."

"Cybertron aside." Optimus interrupted. "I'm afraid we can't do much of anything with the information Mirage has given us, or with what Ratchet can recover. We need to focus our efforts into finishing Autobot City first, trying to locate more of our brethren, and dealing with the few Decepticons that remain.

"If it's just Barricade and Frenzy, it shouldn't be a problem, Prime." Prowl said.

"I'm afraid it might not be just the two of them for much longer." The Autobot leader responded. "While I appreciate the quiet of the past vorn, it might have given them a chance to call for reinforcements. The humans have proven capable of defending themselves, but overall they are just not powerful enough yet to even remotely be able to handle the Decepticons. We must keep this between our kind alone."

"In that case, we might as well notify the humans again." Bluestreak said. "And send out a team to track Frenzy and Barricade down. Attacking so close to the human city means they must be nearby."

"Not to mention the injuries inflicted to Frenzy, without proper medical care will take him a while to recover from." Optimus rumbled. "For now, meeting adjourned. I'll notify you of the team who will go out to find those two later on."

* * *

Ironhide set Nightfire down in her playpen.

"Alright, now I get to spend a little time with you, runt." He grunted. Nightfire squeaked, clicking with excitement. "Now Perceptor says this stuff is good to develop your processes." A box had been left next to the pen, and he reached into it, revealing an Autobot-sized pad of paper and several tubes of paint. "Lucky, this is also easy to clean off. Some cleaning solution and that's that." His daughter squeaked in curiosity, watching as her father placed the supplies on the floor. Ironhide carefully uncapped the tubes and ripped off several pieces of paper from the pad, spreading them over the metal.

"Alright, then." Nightfire squeaked as she was lifted up and put down on a clean page. "This is how it works. This-" A tube was held up. "Is paint. You put the paint on the paper. In some cases, you try to paint stuff, but…hey!" For the tube had been knocked out of his hands by tiny fingers, and Nightfire slammed her hand on top of it, resulting in a spray of pink paint all over the page. A frown knitting across her optics, she looked up at Ironhide as if for approval. The black mech smiled.

"If that's how you want to start it." He squirted out another tube of paint on another page, taking a finger and starting to draw designs on the white background. "See?" A series of excited squeaks and chirps, and Nightfire started to mimic him. "And here are some different colors…hey!" For Nightfire had dipped her fingers in the pink paint and had drawn a line across his arm. Liking how the color looked, she squeaked and started to gleefully slather paint all over Ironhide.

_Ah, it'll come off. _"See, turnabout is fair play." The weapons specialist declared, running his finger though some bright yellow and dabbing it on the sparkling. Nightfire squeaked, retaliating with even more pink paint on her father. Ironhide smiled, feeling the stress and worries of the past several days fade away. He'd missed having a sparkling to dote on; the little ones grew up so fast! And Bumblebee…well, he was more Optimus's own than his, though the black mech loved the yellow 'bot as if he'd been the one who sparked him. He clicked at Nightfire, who squealed and shot towards him, only to slip and fall in more pink paint.

"Aww." He crooned, picking up the squeaking sparkling. "Who's the cutest little 'bot around here? Hmm? Who looks considerably better than those dumb Twins and the short one? Hmmm?" Nightfire blinked big optics at him before snuggling into his arms, one little finger drawing pink-paint doodles on his chest chassis. "Yes, that's you. You look just like your mother, do you know that?" Not caring for how he looked, the black mech strode towards a window bank and settled down on its seat. He clicked again at Nightfire, who cooed and released a series of clicks and squeaks back.

"Your mother was the prettiest femme I had ever seen. And she wasn't too bad with a gun either." A fond smile spread across Ironhide's faceplates. "I took one look at her and knew she was the one that my spark desired. Of course, it took a while for her to realize that she felt the same way about me." Nightfire giggled. "I'm serious. Your kind can be very evil when they want to." A thought occurred to him, and he lifted up the sparkling to eye level.

"Don't listen to anything she says. It's bad. Very bad." Another series of clicks and giggles. "I'm not joking. I swear we would have sparkbonded sooner if it hadn't been for Elita, Moonracer and Firestar." Nightfire blinked in curiosity, and clicked again. Ironhide smiled, and let the sparkling snuggle back into his chest.

"Do you want a story, little one?" A content click was his reply, and the weapons specialist got comfortable as a little head placed itself as close as possible to his pump. "Well, a long, long time ago, on this very special planet named Cybertron…"

Unknown to the father and daughter though, one of the security cameras had been recording their every move. Sideswipe snickered as he ejected the disc he'd been recording the scene on, subspacing it away for safety.

"I shall have revenge for my aft!"

* * *

"You get to pick out your living quarters, Chromia." Prowl announced with a grin, bringing up a blueprint on the computer screen. "Since it's an automatic given out of you and Ironhide you're the one with the best taste."

"Funny." The silver-blue femme replied. A frown crossing her faceplates, she regarded the schematics in front of her. While equal to their mech counterparts, femme Cybertronians were considered the absolute end-all when it came to family units. They were the ones often considered in charge, not the mech, and Primus help anyone who tried to harm the unit's sparkling….or any sparkling/youngling in the presence of any femme-bot, whether they be Autobot or Decepticon.

Some things were just universal, despite the war.

"Hmm…" Chromia muttered. "I don't know. And I'd really not rather pick until the others had a chance to go. Couldn't we just stay in the barracks?"

"For a while, but that wouldn't last long with more 'bots coming." First Aid said. "Unless we converted part of the barracks into family suites, we do have several more active-duty couples…"

"That would be bad for discipline." Prowl retorted. First Aid made to open his mouth but was silenced with an elbow from Chromia.

"Well, let's just get the city up and running first before we pick out who sleeps where." She said. "We have basic defenses, correct?"

"Yes. But because of the lack of proper personnel we need to keep sections of the city closed. We don't have the 'botpower to guard it all."

"That's a given." The femme responded. "If anything, just keep the central station open, we can function just fine from there. What are we going to use the _Ark_ for?"

"Prime eventually wants the _Ark_ hauled into the city proper for badly-needed repairs and then set up on a launcher." Prowl answered. "The same for any other ships that arrive, however just for the sake of supplies we may need to scrap one."

"I forgot. We're low on metal and other items." Chromia murmured.

"If what Mirage said is true, couldn't we spare someone when we got more arrivals to go out and find Cybertron? We might not be able to live there anymore, but supplies…" First Aid trailed off.

"We can't afford any whims like that currently." Prowl said. "And those words are straight from Prime himself. As for the rest, it would be better to wait for Ratchet's confirmation of the data."

"You don't believe him?"

"It's my job to be suspicious." Was the reply. Chromia shifted position, crossing her arms.

_What's that word the humans use sometimes? Oh. Prick. Certainly describes Prowl a good majority of the time. _She thought. "Is there anything else?"

"Not at the moment. After things are settled with Mirage, a team will be heading out to find Barricade and Frenzy."

"Good!" First Aid said with relief. "Barricade is bad enough, but Frenzy? Primus!"

"Earth life just seems to have made him worse." Chromia mused. "Prowl, has Ratchet started work on Teletran-II yet?"

"He won't. He gave control of that over to Perceptor and Wheeljack. They're creating the core processes now but the system itself won't be online for at least a human month or two." The femme nodded.

"Right. And now if you 'bots will pardon me…" Gyros hummed as she slipped back into her alt mode. "I have an upcoming orn off from duty. And I wish to start it by going back to my sparkling and sparkmate."

"Tell them we said hi, huh?" First Aid said. "Who's coming out here?"

"Bluestreak and Hound. Ratchet too, it's his turn for the duty-shift. Red Alert'll take over the labs for the night."

"Be careful."

"I will." Chromia revved her engine, backing up and doing a 180 in the massive hallway before speeding out, honking her horn as she did so.

* * *

AN: Short, I know, but work was harsh today and I'm a bit braintired. Anyway, Sideswipe's revenge will continue in the next chapter...which will be up by Friday.


	12. When the Cat's Away

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow a few of their ideas. Also I know I said I'd update on Friday, but work decided to throw me several curveballs. The next update hopefully should be tommrow night.

* * *

**_When the cat's away_**

"I transcanned this? Nice!" Ratchet looked up from his work to see Mirage admiring his alternate form in a highly-polished table. "Very nice indeed."

"I don't need another vain 'bot hanging around my medical bay. Jazz and Sunstreaker are bad enough, don't you dare start." Mirage didn't pay attention, transforming back and admiring his armor.

"Not bad." He activated his disruptor, disappearing and then reappearing. "Everything seems to be working just fine."

"Hn." Ratchet grunted. "The data recovery is going well, smart of you to have recorded everything you saw." The sniper turned around.

"All of us were doing that. The whole situation…"

"Unsettling is putting it mildly, but yes, I understand." The medic replied. "But you do know that Optimus won't be able to do much of anything until we get affairs settled here. And some more reinforcements would be nice as well."

"I understand." Mirage said, going back to his recharge bed and sitting down. "It's just very strange though, all of us starting to get back together and not having to fight as much."

"Primus willing, maybe soon we won't have to fight at all. I know you share that same sentiment with me." A nod.

"Yes." A pause as Mirage considered his next words. "Ratchet, do you think that Shockwave could be behind what I saw on Cybertron?" The yellow Autobot paused.

"I honestly don't know. He was one of Megatron's strongest supporters, though I honestly don't see that slagging bootleg ever functioning on his own…I could be wrong though." He answered. "The fragger did function as a one-bot death squad in the Floatila City massacre however. And based on what we heard after the fact, he was one of the few lieutenants of Megatron that didn't balk at the orders." To this Mirage was silent.

"I guess you're right." He finally said. "If Shockwave was _that_ cold-sparked enough, then maybe Megatron did leave him orders to stay behind and try to salvage Cybertron. After all, if he'd used the AllSpark to give life to Earth's machines, he couldn't have used this planet for very long."

"That is, if he _did_ give any orders." This from Perceptor, who had just entered. "Everyone keeps forgetting one big fact."

"What's that?"

"Megatron wouldn't have had time to any orders."

"That's right." Ratchet muttered. "The reports had him speeding off Cybertron."

* * *

Soft little purring sounds came from both Chromia and Nightfire, the both of whom were deep in recharge. The older femme was sprawled out on the recharge bed, and the sparkling was sprawled out on top of her mother, one little arm clutching a large stuffed cat as tight to her as possible.

And Ironhide? Ironhide found himself jockeying for bed-space.

_Just as bad as when we started recharging together!_ Giving into temptation, he started to shove his sparkmate back towards her half of the bed, being careful not to jostle the sleeping youngling. _Ahh. __Much better. _Now able to stretch out he did so, shuttering his optics. _Thank Primus for __orns__ off. _Not since raising Bumblebee had he been so exhausted, Nightfire was shaping up to be just as much, if not even more of a handful than the yellow spy. _I'm getting too old for this. _The idea of perhaps just 'taking off' like how the humans did, maybe a nice quiet spot with some High-Grade with a even nicer, longer recharge…yessss. The more Ironhide mused over it, the more perfect it seemed.

_Chromia__ could probably use an __orn__ or two like that as well. _They'd never really had a…what did the humans call it? Oh, a 'honeymoon'. Though in their case it would probably consist of them recharging for the majority of the time…or just quietly enjoying the other's presence. Nightfire could survive with Optimus…no, even better, the nuisance known as Ratchet for at least two orns, if kept busy enough to not notice that her creators were gone. Liking the idea, Ironhide opened one optic and shot a look at the clock. 7 AM Pacific Standard Time. He'd slipped into recharge 4 cycles ago, waking up due to the fact of sparkmate and sparkling trying to oust him from his side of the recharge bed. They could 'sleep in' today...but he just had to run this past Chromia first. Being very careful not to awaken Nightfire, Ironhide carefully removed the little 'bot to snuggle into her mother's side, and then proceeded to pull his sparkmate into his arms.

"No."

"Femme, you have a dirty CPU." Ironhide rumbled.

"No."

"I have a proposition for you." At this Chromia opened one optic.

"What part of the word 'No' do you not understand? The 'n' or the 'o'?"

"I was thinking perhaps you and I could go away for an orn or two." At this the femme opened up the other optic, liking the feel of Ironhide's frame pressed into her back.

"Really." She said, stretching as she checked on Nightfire, who was still purring away in recharge. "And what would we do?"

"Oh…non…sparkling related matters." The black mech rumbled.

"Non-sparkling related matters." Chromia repeated with a laugh in her voice. "Pray tell, what would those matters be?"

"Oh…I don't know. A proper recharge, some…'alone' time. Perhaps…an activity or two." At this the femme burst out into gleeful giggles.

"Activity or two." She repeated again, her frame shaking from laughter.

"Yes or no femme!"

"Yes, yes, yes! But…" Here she paused. "Nightfire's so little to be left alone…"

"We'll give her to that siren-blasting bootleg."

"Hide!"

"I'm serious. We'll give her to Ratchet, leave her all the little toys and everything her spark wants, and then it will be just the two of us…" This was punctuated by Ironhide pulling Chromia in even closer. "She'll be just fine."

"Mmm, but will you be?"

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

* * *

Optimus blinked at his friend.

"You want the following orn off?" Like their human counterparts, the Autobots had adapted to the idea of being lazy on the weekends. All save for Optimus, (Prowl of course), and Ratchet. "Your shifts can be covered yes, but why? This is rather sudden."

"We just want a little time together. It was my idea." Ironhide said. It was only him and Prime, so he could admit his real feelings. "I confess Prime. I'm wiped. I need recharge. I need grown-up Autobot time, and so does Chromia. Nightfire can stay with that bootleg Ratchet, or with you, or with Bumblebee, everybody loves her. Please. I'm about to beg you here."

"Alright, alright, calm down." Optimus rumbled. "Off with you two. Have fun. Don't bring back another little spark or Ratchet will kill you." A grin spread across Ironhide's faceplates.

* * *

Nightfire clicked as her mother set her down in her crib inside the medical bay. Clutching her stuffed cat, she looked up at Chromia, squeaking and blinking her optics.

"Aww…" The silver-blue femme knelt down. "I'll be back soon, sweetheart. I just want to spend a little time with your father." The sparkling clicked as fingers rubbed her receptors, settling down on a pillow and curling up. "I'll miss you. We'll bring you back something, okay?"

"Scram." Ratchet ordered, coming out of his office. "Shouldn't you be on the road with your sparkmate already?"

"I should be, but I just wanted to make sure she was alright. We're so sorry for dropping her off like this…"

"Out." Ratchet ordered, a smile crossing his faceplates as he walked over to pick up Nightfire. "It's fine by me; I don't mind spending time with this little one. And you two could use some time sans baby here." Nightfire squeaked at the mention of her name and snuggled into Ratchet's neck. "See? Now scram!"

"Alright…be good!" Dropping a quick kiss on Nightfire's foreplate, Chromia transformed into her alt form and drove out of the medical bay. The yellow Autobot looked down at Nightfire, who squeaked and snuggled in even more.

"Well, this is going to be interesting."

* * *

Sideswipe looked like he was being invited to his own funeral.

"What do you mean they left?!"

"They want sparkling-free time. Which means we're all sparkling-sitting until they come back."

"When are they coming back?"

"Day after tomorrow. In the morning." Sunstreaker eyed his twin. "What the Pit is up with you?" Sideswipe slumped, and then suddenly perked up, smiling.

"That's okay. It just gives me time to prepare even better!"

"…Prepare _what_?" Sunstreaker asked, now getting suspicious. The red Twin nearly skipped away with glee.

"You'll see!" Was the answer. His brother considered this for a breem.

"Don't come crying to me when you get a new exhaust hole ripped in your aft!" He yelled.

* * *

The remainder of the orn (and the night too) passed peacefully, Nightfire was a perfect little Avatar, simply content to curl up in someone's arms/pillow, clicking and squeaking. The Autobots found themselves happily remising about when Bumblebee had been her age, dependant on them for his every need.

"They're so adorable at this age." First Aid sighed, running a hand over the now-recharging Nightfire's head. "Pity it doesn't last long."

"It doesn't." Bluestreak agreed.

"All too soon either she's going to learn or Bumblebee will teach her how to capitalize on situations with the 'weepy-optics –and-tiny-ball' routine." Prowl said. "She doesn't know better yet, but this one…"

"I don't think she'll be another spy, you don't have to worry about that!" Wheeljack called from the table he and Pereceptor were at. Piled high with mounds of fabric and other mysterious cloth items, the two bots had been working industriously nearly all orn on something.

"What'cha doing?" Jazz asked, walking over to the two.

"Project for Nightfire. We figured that since Ironhide and Chromia were gone for the weekend more or less, we could surprise them by making their room more safe and friendly for Nightfire. Which reminds me, where is Bumblebee?"

"With Sam. They probably won't be out here until tomorrow, Sam's mother went on a…" Here Optimus paused, looking for the words. "cleaning-spree. Sam had to help out." He poked at a pillow. "For her recharge bed?"

"Yup. Already got it made and set up in their room too." Cybertronians preferred to sleep without any type of comfort, but when it came to sparklings, comfort was a necessity. Bumblebee had spent his first several vorns snuggling deep into mounds of pillows and a soft blanket when he was in recharge.

"We chose a different color though." Perceptor stated. "This particular shade of blue will be a nice contrast with her paintjob."

"The paintjob also lets her blend in at night." Came the mutter from Prowl.

"Prowl, will you relax your processor?" Ratchet said, entering the room. He cast a quick scan on the sleeping Nightfire, who was dozing away on one of said pillows. "I seriously doubt she'll pick spying as her function."

"It begins early! You remember Bumblebee!"

"Bumblebee is Bumblebee." The yellow Autobot said. "And Nightfire is Nightfire. Besides, she's just curious."

"Curiosity killed the 'bot." Prowl muttered. Then he found himself having to duck for cover as various items were thrown at him.


	13. The Mice Will Play

AN: Credit to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow a few of their ideas. Go read their stuff. Also, I would highly suggest reading _What Time We Have Left_ by Hearts of Eternity. Her writing got more ideas rolling around for me, so credit to her as well.

* * *

_**The Mice Will Play**_

A mound of sky-blue pillows twitched, and then slowly sank down as Nightfire's systems rebooted, the little 'bot slowly sitting up. Optics blinking, she took a look around the room, one little hand clutching her stuffed cat even closer. She could see the familiar colors of the Twins in their bunks, deep in recharge, but she didn't see the black of her father or the silver-blue of her mother. The sparking squeaked in distress, unconsciously reaching out though her spark-bonds to find her creators, but there was no burning reassurance of Ironhide's spark, or the cool fire that was Chromia's. Nightfire's mouthplate wobbled and fluid filled her optics.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAHHHHHHHHH!" The scream had both Twins roaring out of recharge, Sunstreaker falling out of the top bunk with weapons engaged, Sideswipe flew up but hit his head on the underside of his Twin's berth, resulting in rather vile profanity. Sunstreaker however, had seen that the screaming was coming from Nightfire.

_Oh Pit. _"Hey, hey, hey." He said, hurrying over to the makeshift recharge unit. Nightfire had now worked herself into a full-blown fit, having thrown her stuffed cat out of the bed and was now kicking and screaming in rage. Sunstreaker forced his voice capacitor down to the calming levels he'd used when dealing with an upset Bumblebee, but to no avail. "Nightfire, here…" The little 'bot squirmed out of his hands, issuing another high-pitched scream from her own vocal processor.

"What in Primus' name is going on?!" The door hissed open, resulting in Jazz, Bluestreak, Prowl, Wheeljack and Prime all but falling over each other in an attempt to get in the room.

"I don't know, she just started screaming!" Sunstreaker was trying to get a grip on Nightfire's scruff-bar to calm her down, but the sparkling would just squirm out of the way to kick and scream some more.

"Move." Optimus rumbled. Vorns of experience had him timing Nightfire's next movement and reaching in to grab the little 'bot. Nightfire protested by screaming again, but this time the volume was starting to go down. The Autobot leader reverted back to the clicks and chirps he'd learned from Bumblebee's femme caretakers, drawing the attention of the tiny dark-blue paintjob. Squeaking, she looked up at Optimus, fluid trickling down from her optics. "I know, little one…" Hands suddenly removed Nightfire from Optimus' grip, and the sparkling squealed in rage, revving up for another high-pitched scream that would bend metal…

But her young spark sensed another she was familiar with, subtle hints of power running underneath a warm light. Nightfire suddenly stopped, snuggling deep into Ratchet's chassis, her optics recognizing this particular yellow color. The pump-beat was identifiable too, and the little 'bot stuck one hand into her mouthplate as she dropped back into recharge, soft purrs coming from her frame. Ratchet smiled softly, patting the little 'bot on the back. Then he rolled his optics as the Twins all but threw themselves at his feet.

"Shut it." He said, shifting Nightfire a bit. "All audio receptors working fine?"

"Not really." Bluestreak said, wincing. "I think my right one is blown out."

"I hear ringing." Wheeljack said.

"I swear I heard something go _bzzt_!" This was Prowl.

"What happened?" Optimus.

"I think I know." Ratchet was quick to interject before the Twins could pipe up. "Nightfire's used to coming online and seeing Ironhide and Chromia. She can't speak yet, but she can identify her creators by their colors. Coming online here and seeing those two must have scared her, and when she tried to spark-link but couldn't find 'Hide or Chromia sent her over the edge."

"So basically their ugly mugs scared her to death." This was Jazz. Optimus was quick to grab both twins before his Special Ops officer found himself on the receiving end of a beatdown.

"Alright, problem solved. Back to recharge or what you were doing before." He ordered.

* * *

Chromia opened one optic, tracking a black hand that was running along her chassis. A small smirk crossed her faceplates as fingers started to trail towards her chest armor, the smirk only got bigger when she reached up and crushed the offending digits in her own grip.

"…Ow."

"No."

"Yes."

"Public decency laws."

"Frag 'em." The femme sat up, stretching her joints. Ironhide had taken her to his favorite spot in the Sierra Nevada mountain range…well, the tiny bit of it that went though Nevada anyway. Isolated and private, it had been perfect for their first sparkling-free night. At the thought of Nightfire Chromia clicked unhappily, sighing.

"Hey." The feel of a gentle hand on her arm-armor had Chromia turning her head. "What's wrong?" Chromia lay back down, curling up into Ironhide's side.

"I miss Nightfire." The black mech put one hand behind his head.

"I miss her too. But I'm sure she's doing just fine."

"What do you think she's doing right now?"

"Probably blinking her optics and cooing at Prime or one of the others. Now…where were we?" Chromia giggled, rolling out of her mate's arms.

"Didn't you say you were going to take me to more places today?" Ironhide scowled, looking up at his sparkmate.

"You're wrecking my plans here, femme."

"Live with it." Chromia replied, toeing Ironhide. "Up, up!"

* * *

Nightfire clicked, considering her playpen. Two cycles of recharge had taken care of the energy drain her little fit had cost her, and now she wanted to play! The little 'bot slowly reached up, tiny fingers gripping the mesh as she wobbled on her two feet. The flashing light nearby was how she was kept inside, she'd seen Ratchet or her creators press it often enough and careful processing had revealed that if she touched it, she could get out. Squeaking, she threw one little hand up, smacking the light. Her reward was the gate opening, and she tumbled out head over heels, landing on her little aft. Her systems were quick to recover though, and the clicking sparkling soon made a beeline for the door, crawling at top speed. The 'bay doors hissed open and shut as she exited, just in time as Ratchet left his office.

"Alright, little one. Time for your-" He trailed off as he saw the open playpen. "…Oh Primus. TELETRAN!" Outside of the 'bay, Nightfire considered the vast array of options before her before turning to the right and making a beeline for Wheeljack's lab, giggling all the way.

* * *

Chromia considered the path before her.

"I don't know…isn't this Ratchet's idea of fun? Plus his alt mode can handle it."

"So can yours. And mine." Was the reply. The two Autobots were at the beginnings of a dirt path in the mountain range. "But that idiot goes for the harder areas. The ones with all the rocks and everything." The H3 revved silently, scanners going over the area. It did look like fun…

"Come on." Ironhide rumbled. "Just one little run." To this Chromia was silent, before gunning her own motor.

"…Catch me if you can!" She crowed suddenly, tires peeling off and throwing dirt all over Ironhide. "Ha ha ha!"

"My paintjob!" Ironhide bellowed. "You'll pay for that!" Blasting his horn, he went off in hot pursuit.

* * *

"Oh Primus save us…"

"How in the…how did she get up there?!"

"Weren't you supposed to be watching her?"

"She got out of her playpen! She figured out how to open the thing!" Ratchet protested. Above their heads in Wheeljack's lab, Nightfire had happily curled up for a snooze on a ceiling support strut. "Wheeljack, Primus blast you, don't you _lock_ your slagging doors?!"

"Don't you dare pin this on me!" The inventor replied, fins flashing red.

"Somebody needs to get her down from there." Sideswipe said worriedly. "Seriously."

"I think I know how she got up there."

"Not NOW, Perceptor!"

"Optimus, can you reach her?" Prowl asked worriedly.

"I'll try." The Autobot leader rumbled. "Somebody get me a step-stool…oh no!" For Nightfire was clicking awake, sitting and looking around with bleary optics. "Ohh no…"

"Nightfire." Ratchet said, standing underneath the strut. The sparkling clicked with delight as she saw the CMO. "Nightfire, sweet, don't move. You're in a not very good place at the moment…" The little 'bot chose to ignore him, squeaking with delight as she stretched. "No no no!" The sight of two little legs dangling over the ledge nearly gave every single 'bot present a spark-attack. "Optimus!"

"On it!" A ladder had been procured, and Prime had climbed on it, easily reaching the sparkling. "Alright, you've caused enough trouble for today." To this Nightfire responded with a hiss, starting to squeak in rage. Optimus drew back, startled.

"I beg your pardon, missy?" He rumbled.

"What? What is it?" Bluestreak asked. Optimus reached out easily and snagged Nightfire by the scruff-bar. Now livid, the sparkling screeched and started to squirm around, but no good. A stern look crossed Optimus' face as he lifted the tiny 'bot out of danger and up to his face.

"Stop it." He ordered. "No more temper tantrums, you hear? This was a very bad thing you did." To this the answer was another screech.

"Primus, just like a femme." Sunstreaker stated. "They don't listen, and they always throw fits."

"And it's a mystery why you don't have a sparkmate." Ratchet muttered. "I'm sorry, Optimus."

"Perhaps she's just acting out due to the fact that Ironhide and Chromia are still not present." Perceptor said, removing the ladder as Prime stepped off it. Nightfire was still struggling in his grip, squeaking and clicking in rage.

"Or the fact she's had her 'fun' interrupted." Prowl remarked, shooting the tiny sparkling his own glare.

"Come on, she's only a sparkling." Wheeljack protested. "Not even half a vorn yet. Bumblebee used to act out all the time and we couldn't puzzle that out." The clicks and squeaks of rage were starting to lower in volume, the rhythm of Prime's pump slowly lulling Nightfire out of her fit and into recharge. "See? She's calming down now."

"Yes, but for how long?" Optimus rumbled, letting the dark-blue paintjob snuggle into his chassis. "She's not sleeping though the orns as much as she used to." Despite his gruff tone, a smile fluttered across his faceplates as Nightfire blinked sleepy optics and curled up into a ball.

"Not to mention she's getting sneaky." Prowl muttered.

"I'll fix her playpen." Ratchet said, taking the bundle of wires from his friend's arms. "And Wheeljack, _lock_ your door!"

* * *

The Topkick idled up to the entrance of the carwash.

_No peeking!_ Had he been in his original form, Ironhide would have grinned, but in alt mode…well, slightly hard to do. He settled for extending a probe out with a credit card on it to pay for his wash into the machine. Perceptor and Hound had put their heads together to create a type of…well; it was their equivalent of a human 'Swiss Army Knife'. With their own personal human 'hologram' activated, all the Autobots had to do was extend said 'army knife' to do any action…like maybe paying for gas at the pump or in this case, inserting a credit card into the machine for a carwash. Their run though the mountains had resulted in quite a bit of mud and dirt on their paintjobs, Chromia had located the nearby gas station with cleaning facilities. Too bad it wasn't big enough for two of them. The sound of the dryer stopping got his attention, Chromia gleefully driving out of the other end, sunlight glistening off her frame.

_Much better. _She purred. Ironhide smirked as he drove in, stopping on the pressure plates.

_No peeking for you._ To this Chromia snorted, and then quickly reactivated her hologram as several humans clustered around a mini-van looked at her. Reversing into a parking space, she settled for watching the carwash, her hologram propping two feet up on the dash. She didn't have long to wait, the Topkick soon drove out, turning around to reverse back into the parking space next to her. One black-tinted window rolled down, and Ironhide's hologram shot a grin at her.

"Why hello thar." He drawled. "What's a pretty girl like you doing around here?" To this Chromia did her absolute best not to shake with giggles.

_Stop that. _She texted.

"That's a real pretty car you got there."

_Stop it. _This side of Ironhide was rare, the playful and gentle side that lurked deep beneath the gruff exterior. _No bad human pickup lines. _

_Hmm…would you prefer… _A few lines of Cybertronian.

_Stop, or there will be a repeat of last night._

_Why do you think I'm doing this? _In response, Chromia fired up her engine, shooting a sly wink at her sparkmate via hologram.

_Only if you catch me, and so far you're 0 for 1!_

* * *

This Powerpoint was a thing of genius. Sideswipe mused. Oh, and Photoshop wasn't too bad either. Cackling with delight, he saved his work and subspaced the disc he'd recorded Ironhide and Nightfire on. He wasn't begrudging the old mech time with his sparkling, oh no. Creator and createe time was good for the spark…but this was about this aft. Revenge was needed. Pit slag any consequences, this was completely worth it.

"And Primus said, let there be slides and photos, and it was done!" The lights came on. The red 'bot turned to see his yellow counterpart in the doorway.

"…What in the Pit are you doing?" Sideswipe smiled sheepishly.

"Nothing."

"Why is there blasphemy involved?"

"You're not religious."

"True, but I don't blaspheme." Sunstreaker replied. "Now what have you been doing over the past two orns?"

"Nothing. Gotta go check on 'Fire!" Before the yellow Twin could say anything, Sideswipe had gotten past him and was sprinting down the hallway.


	14. Wrecking Ball

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Credit also goes to Landray Depth Charge (I honestly believe that Frenzy was addicted to coffee in the movie, that's his crack cocaine) and Hearts of Eternity.

* * *

**_Wrecking Ball_**

Mikaela left the Starbucks, taking a sip of her chai. Next to her, Sam had a disgusted look on his face.

"I don't know how you can stand to come here."

"Oh shut up." The dark-haired girl replied. "I like their coffee."

"Mikaela, Starbucks is like literally…the evil empire."

"Mm-hmm."

"No really. It's like what the Empire was in _Star Wars_." Seeing his two friends, Bumblebee opened his doors. "Honestly! Every time you buy something from there, you're helping fund their plans for world domination."

"Mmm." Mikaela smiled as Bumblebee popped out a cup holder. "Thanks, 'Bee." Sam slid into the driver's seat, putting his hands on the wheel.

"Right. Off to the _Ark_ with us then?" He was answered by the sound of the Camaro's engine gunning to life. "Works for me man. Let's-" Bumblebee suddenly lurched to a stop. "Gah! What the hell?" Mikaela however, saw what had caused the yellow Autobot to stop still.

"Sam, get down!"

"What? Ooomph!" For Mikaela had grabbed Sam by the shirt collar and pulled him down as Bumblebee activated another gizmo of Wheeljack's creation, a temporary illusion field that would make him look like a normal car. Just in time, as a very familiar black and white Saleen Mustang pulled up in a parking spot not too far away. The door opened, and a very short police officer got out, making a beeline for the Starbucks.

"Mikaela, what-"

"Barricade!" Was the hiss. This was enough to shut Sam up, though he and Mikaela ventured to peer over Bumblebee's dashboard. The short police officer was coming back, armed with four Starbucks cups. The Mustang's door opened, police officer got in, and the car made its way back onto the street. The teenagers popped up.

"Follow him, 'Bee!"

* * *

The trio followed Barricade to an abandoned parking garage almost on the outskirts of town.

"This illusion should help hide my signal for a little while longer." Bumblebee said as he started to transform. "You two get on me." Sam and Mikaela gladly obeyed, going into the yellow Autobot's outstretched hand to sit on his shoulder. His friends safe, the spy slowly made his way into the building. Fortunately, he didn't need to go that far.

"coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee!!"

"By the Pit, Barricade, why did you get him addicted on that stuff?!" The voice had Bumblebee jerking in surprise and then going for cover behind a wall. "Now he's even worse."

"Sssscrew you!"

"Did you get the message out?" The no-nonsense voice of Barricade stalled any bickering that would have spawned as the result of Frenzy's insult.

"Yeah, I did. I don't plan on being around when Starscream finds out though. He'll probably haul aft back here just to rip your spark out."

"Hmph. If everything works out right, it's _his_ spark that'll see the light of day, and not mine." Bumblebee dared to peek around the corner, his spark sinking as his suspicions were confirmed.

"What is it?" Sam whispered, feeling his friend tense. "What's wrong?"

"Swindle." Bumblebee hissed. _Primus, talk about bad news! _

"I don't know though…" The friends quickly quieted. "Calling _him? _The last I heard ol' Shockwave was staying on Cybertron." Bumblebee all but almost fell over at that piece of news.

"He was. But that was the only one I could think of to contact." Barricade admitted.

"Why did that logic-center stay on Cybertron anyway?" Swindle rumbled, poking a coffee-chugging Frenzy with his gun. The silver 'bot spluttered and gave him the finger.

"Your guess is good as mine. But once he hears about Megatron's demise, he'll be on his way. In the meantime, we just have to make sure the Autobots don't find out."

"You want me to see if I can't get in touch with the rest of the Combaticons?"

"If you can keep them under control when they arrive here, be my guest." At this, Bumblebee had heard enough and he pulled away.

"We have to get back to Optimus and the others." He whispered.

"You don't have to say that twice!" Sam agreed.

"Go, go!" Mikaela urged.

* * *

Optimus sighed, running a hand over his faceplates. Things hadn't improved much after Nightfire's little 'adventure', the sparkling had slept for only a cycle before waking up and screaming her little spark out for Energon. That had turned into an event, Nightfire stubbornly refusing to drink from her bottle unless she was gripping it herself. Hound had decided to indulge her and give her a 'sparkling-cup', and that well…

Several sets of blasted audio receptors later, quite a bit of Energon spilled all over the place…regular _and _regurgitated, thank you very much, and yet another temper tantrum, Nightfire was clicking away in recharge, Ratchet had been stuck with repair duty once again, Prowl had been muttering like a fiend about 'discipline plans', and Optimus…

Primus, Bumblebee had been an Avatar compared to Nightfire. Yet the Autobot leader found he was enjoying every minute of it. Exhausted he sank back in his recharge bed, optics shuttering closed.

_Primus, I'm so tired…_ And it wasn't just the events of today. No, he was weary to his very spark about everything. He envied Ironhide, at the end of the day his old friend could simply turn to his sparkmate for comfort, to let all cares and worries disappear save for what concerned his family unit. Optimus had no such luxury. Rolling onto his side, the Autobot leader glanced somberly at the small gap of space between him and the edge of the recharge bed, back on Cybertron he'd had bigger, but then he'd had to, since he'd been sharing…

"_You dirty bootleg, you!__Optimus__ resisted the urge to reach out and slam __Ironhide'__s__ head on the table__, instead settling for suffering though his friend's elbowing in stoic silence.__ "Moving in together, eh?" The __Autobot__ leader reached for his cube of __Energon_

_"Let's see…better my moving in than being caught in the femme area of the station by Prowl." He answered, downing the liquid just as the table erupted in laughter. __"At what time and…doing what again?"__Ironhide__ glowered._

_"If __Prowl'd__ come like what, five __breems__ earlier I think you would have __glitched__ his brain into stasis lock." Ratchet cracked. _

_"Not only that, just where you two were caught__ Ultra Magnus chuckled. "Now, where was-__" He__ threw up his hands as a black plasma cannon pointed itself at him. "Hey!"_

_"You need to learn how to shut up." __Ironhide__ rumbled. _

_"Put it away, __Ironhide__Optimus__ ordered. "No need for a fight."_

_"Yeah, you don't want __Chromia__ visiting you in the brig now." Jazz snickered, winking one optic. To this __Optimus__ had enough sense to pull sharply to the left and sigh as the silver '__bot__ got dragged over the table._

That had gone down as one of the largest fights ever recorded at Alpha Centuri. Popular among the Autobots as a place to rest and relax, the bar did fairly well. And if a fight was picked, well…

_That had been the only time the __Autobot__ leader had ever gotten involved in a bar fight at Alpha __Centuri__. And even then he hadn't done that much…if you counted throwing up a table as defense against several cubes full of __Energon__ being hurled at you as 'involved'. Whichever, whatever, he'd finally stumbled into his recharge unit at an extremely bad cycle, falling faceplate down on the bed and blissfully blacking out. And he'd stayed offline, his systems refusing to reboot until halfway into the next __orn__. Of course, when he'd awoken, he found out he wasn't the only one in the recharge bed._

_Elita__ didn't even twitch as he gently got up, her systems humming happily away in deep recharge. The __Autobot__ leader was quick to access the computer logs; she'd gotten in even later than him. _

_"Fun job we have, don't we?" He murmured, running one hand gently over her head before getting up. _

_Luckily, there hadn't been that much work to be done. Shift-change saw __Optimus__ gladly go back to his rooms. Only there was a slight problem…_

**_crash!_**

_"Slag!"__Optimus__ roared, falling over a set of stacked boxes. "__Ow_

_Optimus__Elita__ appeared at the doorframe to their shared room. __"Oh no!"_

_Oww_

_"I'm sorry, I was unpacking…" The __Autobot__ leader blinked at the femme looming over him. "Are you alright?"_

_"Yes." __Optimus__ gingerly sat up. As __Elita__ held out a hand, he grinned and pulled down on it._

_"Ah!"_

_"But now I'm better." His beloved's giggles met his audio receptors as she was pulled into his arms. __"Much better indeed."_

_"Stop it, I have to finish unpacking. And then I need to organize everything."_

_"You can do it later."_

_"No, I have to do it now!" __Elita__ started to wriggle out of Prime's grip. "I need to get this stuff out of the way and then I can do our room…"_

_"Very good idea."__Optimus__ rumbled. "In fact, let's start there first."_

_"And you say I have the dirty CPU? __Eee__Optimus__ released his grip and rolled out of the way just in time to prevent a slap from __Elita._

_"Ha ha!"_

* * *

A heavy sigh escaped Optimus, and he silently ran one hand back and forth over the gap. Primus forgive him…he didn't know how much longer he could do this. To continuously hold on for the sake of the mission, the sake of his comrades and friends…for all the vows and promises he had sworn to uphold.

_I can't do this for much longer._ Sighing again, Optimus started to boot his programs for offline. But before they could activate…

_Optimus! _The Autobot leader shot up at Hound's voice on the com-link. _Optimus__! You need to report to the control room right away!_

"What's wrong?"

_Bumblebee just came in. He says Barricade has made contact with another __Decepticon__, and that they've sent a message to Shockwave! _At those words, Optimus felt his pump freeze.

"…I'm on my way."

* * *

"You're certain of this."

"Prowl, we're not lying!" Bumblebee trilled.

"What's going on?" Optimus rumbled as he entered the room. The yellow 'bot turned to face him, his vocalizer starting to click from the stress.

"Sir, I was with Sam and Mikaela at the local Starbucks when Barricade and Frenzy pulled up right in front of us-"

"That creepy freak likes coffee-" Sam interrupted.

"But they didn't see us, so we followed them to an area on the edge of the town. He and Frenzy met Swindle there-"

"I mean, he was just chugging that stuff down like he was at a frat house or something-"

"And Barricade asked Swindle if he'd sent out a message, and he said yes-here." Bumblebee activated his optics, and the hologram recording of the Decepticon meeting played itself out for the hastily-gathered Autobots.

"That's not good." Bluestreak muttered as the hologram faded away.

"Son of a glitch!" Sunstreaker hissed. "Not only do we have to deal with the computer-on-legs, but now those bit-brained bootlegs?" The Autobot leader was silent for a moment, and then lifted his head.

"Prowl. Get Ironhide and Chromia on the communicator. Perceptor, how long before Teletran-II is online?"

"It won't be activated for another human month, Optimus."

"Can you at least get the security system up and running?"

"Yes."

"Do that. Hound, if Mirage is able to join you, I want you two to go to that area where Bumblebee saw Barricade and Swindle. See if you can find any trace of what they've been doing or planning there."

"On it." The green Autobot replied, running out of the control room. Optimus turned his attention to Sam and Mikaela.

"We will notify Secretary Keller, but considering what is going on, I would feel better if you were staying with us."

"I think we can come up with something." Mikaela answered. Bumblebee nodded.

"I'll stay with them constantly, sir." Optimus gave his own nod in reply, turning to face Jazz and the Twins.

"Where's Nightfire?"

"With 'Hatchet." Jazz replied. "You want us to move her?"

"Not until Ironhide and Chromia arrive. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, I want you two on bodyguard duty on Ratchet and First Aid. Tell Red Alert to report to me right away." The brothers nodded. "Jazz, compile a report for the Secretary of Defense. I need to see him as fast as possible."

* * *

Chromia sighed with happiness as she curled up into Ironhide.

"Didn't I promise you a light show?" Her sparkmate rumbled.

"If Grapple could see this, he'd probably fritz out." The femme replied. The last stop on their 'honeymoon' had been a cliff overlooking the Las Vegas strip, Ironhide wanting to show Chromia the view. "I see why you just wanted to stay here. If we got any closer our optics might overload."

"They do." Ironhide rumbled. "But there's a less-bright area, want to pick up a present for Nightfire?" Before Chromia could answer, the com-link buzzed. "What the…"

"Didn't you tell them not to call us?"

"Only if there was a problem with Nightfire…hang on." Grumbling, Ironhide activated his communicator. "Prowl, there better be a Pit-fraggin good reason for this."

_It's __Optimus. _At the sound of his friend's voice, Ironhide felt his pump lurch.

"Optimus? What's wrong?"

_Nightfire's__ fine. You and __Chromia__ get back here right now. We may be dealing with what Mirage saw on __Cybertron. _Ironhide looked at Chromia.

"I thought that had been taken care of." She said.

_Barricade just blew it wide open. __Optimus__ out. _Chromia looked up at Ironhide, fear in her optics.

"Hide…"

"Let's go." Ironhide rumbled, starting to shudder into his alt mode. "If we keep at the max speed limit on the interstate, we should be back by daylight."


	15. Going on the Fritz

AN: Credit goes to Karategal and TheMoonlessNight for letting me borrow a few of their ideas. Ditto for Hearts of Eternity.

* * *

**_Going on the Fritz_**

"Now are you sure this isn't going to affect your schoolwork? I mean, this is your senior year, and you've only got a few months before graduation."

"Mom, everything will be fine." Sam said, stuffing some clothes into a duffle bag. "Besides, it's experience for when I'm away at college." He…well, at least for him, he didn't know how Mikaela was going to handle her own folks, had decided to stick as close to the truth as possible…somewhat. Judy was blissfully unaware of her son's relationship with the Autobots (for sanity's sake).

"This whole…program, it's so sudden and weird! Are you sure you want to be doing this type of thing after what you went through last year?"

"Out, Mom." Sam ordered, dropping the bag and starting to shove Judy out the door. Door slamming shut, he turned around and blew out a breath. "Oi."

* * *

"So this thing's just a precaution?" Ronald asked from his spot underneath Bumblebee's hood. The premise was that he was checking the Camaro's engine for any trouble in case Judy or any nosy neighbor came by.

"Yes. He'll be perfectly safe with us, Mr. Witwicky." The older man chuckled.

"I know he'll be safe with you all. Anything I or Judy have to look out for?" Bumblebee paused; the idea of Sam's parents' safety hadn't come up…

"…You should be fine, but just in case, make some plans to leave for a weekend or something." He suggested. "Sam will keep in contact with you, but if you want, I do have your cellphone number. I'll send you a text message?"

"Works for me." Ronald said, closing the hood.

* * *

Chromia groaned as her systems rebooted, opening one optic. She and Ironhide had been on the road all night, upon arrival back at the Ark they'd been expecting to go into a meeting but instead Ironhide was ordered to Autobot City, and Chromia had been sent to recharge.

Slightly impossible to do when you had a sparkling who was all too happy to see you, and whom nobody could watch. Even more impossible when your sparkmate was called away and hadn't come back yet. The silver-blue femme looked down, snuggled into her side and clicking away was Nightfire, deep in recharge. Chromia felt a smile twitch across her faceplates, apparently her sparkling had been quite the handful for Optimus and the others while her and Ironhide had been away.

"Alright…" She cooed, lifting up the sleeping 'bot. "Let's find somebody who can watch you."

The somebody turned out to be Bumblebee, who had just arrived with Sam and Mikaela. The yellow scout was only too happy to help out the exhausted femme by spark-sitting, freeing Chromia up for the sudden meeting that had been called. As she headed for the bridge, she saw Ironhide enter though a side door, the black mech looked just as tired as she was.

"Uggh." Wordlessly Chromia moved closer to him, wrapping one black arm around her waist. Running one hand up and down his back, she projected as much comfort as she could muster into their spark-link. The answer was Ironhide nuzzling the top of her head, a sigh escaping his vents.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. You go into recharge after this." The femme ordered. "Don't you dare argue."

"I don't feel like arguing." Ironhide rumbled. "I just wish they'd tell us what's going on."

"Nobody told you?" Chromia asked, surprised.

"No, I got ordered to finish up the fraggin weapons system…which from the last I heard, was coming online at the same time as Teletran-II. But now apparently just the defense system is operating, and that nerdy glitch won't tell me why." The black mech responded as they made their way onto the bridge.

"The nerdy glitch was under orders from me." Prime rumbled. At this Ironhide jerked, and Chromia stifled a giggle. "We have a situation developing."

"Might we be told of what said situation is?" Chromia replied. "All due respect sir…your communication with us last night was a bit startling."

"Bumblebee, Sam and Mikaela found where Barricade and Frenzy have been hiding." Prowl said, always quick to get to the point. "While Bumblebee then put the humans' lives in danger by including them in his reconnaissance mission-"

"Prowl." A warning from Optimus.

"They were able to at least confirm the existence of one other Decepticon here. Swindle."

"Swindle?!" Ironhide rumbled, pulling away from his sparkmate. "What in the Pit is that slaggin bastard doing here?"

"Easy, Ironhide." Optimus said. The Combaticon had been part of Megatron's team at Tyger Pax. "Let Prowl finish." The black-and-white Autobot nodded.

"Under orders from Barricade, Swindle sent a message off-planet to Shockwave." Dead silence, and then a horrified gasp from Chromia as she collapsed into a seat. Ironhide was quick to rush to his sparkmate's side, hands going on Chromia's shoulders. "Apparently, they're planning behind Starscream's back. Those two also confirmed what Mirage's team suspected and what some of us were considering, Shockwave did stay on Cybertron of his own free will."

"So he might be behind-" The weapons specialist started.

"At this point, that's the only logical conclusion." Optimus interrupted. "But that's not the problem. Swindle apparently may try to get in touch with the other Combaticons."

"…Shockwave is coming here?" Chromia repeated weakly.

"We're assuming yes." Prowl answered. "That's why we called you back." The femme jerked, and then shook her head in the human manner, trying to get a grip.

"You think he's still following Megatron's orders."

"We can't tell at this point. But it's better to be safe than sorry." The Autobot leader said. "I know Ironhide is your partner, but at some point you and Nightfire will have to be guarded, thus barring you from participating in any battles."

"That's an automatic given." Chromia replied. Ironhide could feel his sparkmate's armor tense even more underneath his hands, and automatically he sent reassurance to her through their bond. "Even if Shockwave is not obeying anything left by Megatron, the other Decepticons…"

"But we're not that far yet." Ironhide rumbled. "All we have at this point is speculation, yes?"

"It doesn't hurt to have a plan ready." Optimus replied. "Hound and Mirage are on recon, and thanks to your efforts, Autobot City can act as a buffer if needed."

"What about the humans?" The femme asked.

"Sam and Mikaela will be staying with us for a while. These are just precautions." Optimus repeated. "I have to go and meet with John Keller in several breems, you two continue on your shifts accordingly. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

* * *

Ironhide was quick to catch up to Chromia after they were dismissed.

"Hey. Hey." He reached out, grabbing his sparkmate by the hand. "Hold on."

"Let me go, Ironhide." The black mech didn't say anything, but pulled/dragged Chromia into a side room. "Let me go!" Hissing in frustration, Chromia only struggled more when Ironhide embraced her. "Blast you, let me…"

"Shh." The weapons specialist muttered. "Chromia, I can feel it, you're hurting inside." The femme struggled some more, and then sagged into Ironhide, her hands fisting against his frame.

"Hide…"

"Shh. I know." Ironhide muttered. "I know. But he won't come here, you know that. And I won't let him get to you or her." A shaky nod.

"I…know that. But…when Optimus said his name, I-" Ironhide didn't say anything, but pulled Chromia even closer. He knew where Chromia's fear was coming from.

_Megatron__, I surely hope you're suffering in the Pit, you __fraggin__ bastard._ Shifting his weight, he picked up Chromia and put his foreplate to hers. In response he felt her spark pulse, calling out to his own, the two harmonizing silently over frequencies only known to them. Gradually he felt the tension seep out of her frame.

"There's never going to be another Floatila, and you know that." He rumbled. Chromia had lost far too many of her friends that day, and as a femme the murder of little ones had affected her deeply. "I'll rip that bootleg's spark out myself and give it to you on a silver platter." A small snort.

"I know you would too." Chromia knew how she was reacting was illogical, the _Ark_ and Autobot City were well protected, despite only having a skeleton staff. Optimus and the others would go down fighting before allowing any harm to come to Nightfire. "I just…" Maternal instincts did battle with the warrior processing within her.

"Being a femme is a glitch?" The old joke had Chromia rearing back and punching her mate in the shoulder. Ironhide grunted as his sensors screamed in protest.

"Remarks like that will get you booted from the bed."

"You wish." The black mech rumbled. His spark lightened, Chromia sounded more like her normal self. "Do you want me to stay close today?"

"No…I'll be fine." Chromia allowed Ironhide to pull her back into a full-frame hug, feeling his pump and hers beat in unison. Feeling assured on a far deeper level she shuttered her optics, allowing the peace of the moment to steal though her. As long as they were like this, everything would be alright.

* * *

Ratchet was quick to corner her when she came back into the medical bay.

"Sit." He barked, sliding over a chair. "I heard about the meeting."

"I'm fine, really."

"" Chromia obeyed, best to indulge the CMO before he really got annoyed. "How are you feeling?"

"…I'm doing better." The femme answered. "I just…" She struggled to find the right words.

"You thought as a mother first." Ratchet said. Chromia blinked at him, the yellow Autobot had hit the nail right on the head. "You thought as a mother first, and not a warrior. That's only natural for you now." To this Chromia didn't reply, instead getting and going over to the playpen where Nightfire was clicking away at her stuffed cat.

"…I'm afraid. For her…for me…for Ironhide…and I don't know why. Things were so much simpler before-"

"Aren't they always?" Ratchet remarked dryly. "You two are still adjusting to the family unit process, which in your case, is harder since you two are battle-wired. Now you have a possible threat, and I imagine your processes are going on the fritz." Chromia let Nightfire grab her hand, the sparkling squeaking and clicking away.

"I know we're safe. And half of me is kicking myself for fritzing out like that…and the other half is fritzing out."

"I'd say you were entitled to. But you know you can't do anything, and that Optimus and the others are taking all the precautions they can think of. And Ironhide would rather die than letting any harm come to you two." Ratchet winced as the words left his mouth, talk about speaking before processing. "Gah!"

"It's alright." Chromia said. "Thank you." The CMO smiled.

"It's no problem. Playing therapist also comes under my function." He winked at the femme. "However, as payment I require that you boot your sparkmate in here for his periodic maintenance. He's been ducking me." A smile appeared on Chromia's faceplates, but before she could reply, the sound of an explosion had her grabbing Nightfire and protectively shielding her.

"What in the name of-" Ratchet snapped, getting to his feet. "First Aid!"

* * *

In retrospect, Bluestreak knew he shouldn't have put in that disc Sideswipe had given him. He really shouldn't have. Music his aft! Ironhide had come in not long after, wanting to discuss a shift placement.

Really…he could blame Prowl. The black-and-white Autobot had started to snicker controllably, to the point where he had to clap a hand over his mouthplate and duck underneath his desk. As Ironhide had demanded to know what was going on, Bluestreak had turned towards the main viewscreen.

…He really should have tried harder to not laugh. Honestly. But it was just easy to tell that the pictures had been Photoshopped, Nightfire hadn't gotten the dexterity (or the processes yet) to wield a paintbrush, nor could you just slather on pink paint all over a mech's chassis...(though that picture of the completely pink Ironhide was one for the ages).

Then there had been the tea party setup. If that wasn't Photoshop at its' finest, Bluestreak didn't know what was. Nightfire and Ironhide sitting at a tiny table with stuffed animals and a pink tea set…

It was at that point where he heard a strangled noise, and with a feeling of impending doom deep in his spark, he turned around to see Ironhide staring at the monitor. There was a human emoticon that accurately expressed the look on the old mech's face…

o.O

The pictures had progressively gotten worse. Ironhide playing dress-up with Nightfire, another tea party…playing dolls…always the Pit-blasted pink present. But the last picture took home the prize.

Ironhide cooing not at Nightfire, but a Hello Kitty plush.

Bluestreak dimly remembered being on the floor, struggling to draw air though his vents, he had been laughing so hard. Prowl had fallen out of his chair, all but curled up into a ball, fluid trickling down his faceplates as he screamed and screamed.

And Ironhide?

There had been blasphemy. The sound of two monster plasma cannons charging. Sideswipe's name being bellowed so loud the room shook. The door had opened and shut.

Less than 5 breems later, there had been a very loud femme-sounding scream and then a massive explosion. Prowl had to crawl over to the door, still laughing his aft off, pull himself up and get a grip, and then run outside, bellowing for Ironhide to cease and desist.

All Bluestreak could think was that Sideswipe was a dead 'bot.

* * *

AN: Next chapter, Ironhide makes somebody his glitch.


	16. Bitter Memories

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas.

* * *

**_Bitter Memories_**

It was a long time since he had done this.

"Sunstreaker, help me!"

Ah yes, the thrill of the hunt. He'd forgotten this, the simple pleasure of stalking one's enemy…playing processor games.

"SUNNY!"

A pity he wasn't built for this type of warfare though. Chromia could pull it off to an extent. Almost cackling, Ironhide killed the lights in the rec room.

"Come out, come out wherever you are." He rumbled. "Take it like a 'bot, Sideswipe." Charging up one cannon, he settled down behind a console and waited…of which he didn't have to do for very long. A red head dared to stick itself around a corner.

**_BOOM._**

"WHOA!"

"You're mine, Sideswipe!" Ironhide roared, charging up both cannons now. "How would you like your new exhaust hole created? Plasma fire or a drill up your aft?"

"You're fraggin crazy!" A smirk crossed Ironhide's faceplates.

"Drill then. That's just fine. I'll knock you out and drag you to Ratchet."

"PIT NO."

"Struggling will only make it worse!"

* * *

Outside the door, Sunstreaker smirked.

"This is all you, bro." He muttered, leaning against the metal. "Normally I would get involved, but this…no, sir." Another explosion and a scream had him wincing slightly.

"Sunstreaker! What in the name of Primus are you doing?!" The yellow Twin stepped away from the door, hands up in the air.

"I'm not in this. And Prowl, he's on a major tear…"

"Stand down." The black-and-white Autobot ordered.

"I'm not in this! And it would be smart for you to stay out as well!"

"Get back from the door." Sighing, Sunstreaker obeyed.

"Your funeral." As Prowl dared to enter the room, he activated his com-link. "Ratchet? You might want to bring the most powerful sedatives you've got…"

* * *

John Keller considered the information being displayed on his laptop computer.

"It sounds like you have things well in hand, Optimus." He said, tilting his head back to look at the Autobot leader. "I mean, I'll certainly let Lennox and his team know, but the U.S. Government does trust you now to handle things of this type."

"Experience tells me to make sure I cover…how do you say it? 'all my bases.'" The red and blue mech rumbled. Keller chuckled.

"If only half the people I work with were as dedicated and as careful as you are." He said, exiting out of the program. "But anyway. Soon you won't have to even call on me, we're about to declare your area an autonomous region. And once you have more of your people arrive, then you can construct that…what was it again?"

"A moonbase." While the Cybertronians' long term plans for settling on Earth were not finalized yet, Optimus had been considering ways of how they could live without affecting the humans too much. Perceptor had proposed building a larger city on Earth's moon, the Cybertronians being allowed to live there in exchange for helping the humans master travel in space and other related projects. Much to Optimus' surprise, the US Government had quickly agreed…and so had the United Nations.

_Primus, I'll feel better when everything's done. _Optimus watched the human as he put away the computer, the image of little Nightfire coming to his processor. Despite his orders for her safety, he didn't feel right keeping a secret like this from their allies. Yet he also knew what could happen if the information of her existence leaked and fell into the wrong hands…human or Decepticon.

"Secretary Keller." The white-haired man looked up.

"Yes?"

"…I have something…of importance to tell you. However…" Optimus paused. "I beg of you to please…keep it private." A frown crossed John's face.

"I don't know about that." He looked up at the Autobot. "It's nothing bad, is it?" Was it his imagination, or did he see relief in the mech's face?

"No."

"Alright then. It's just between us." Optimus nodded.

"You know that a while back, we had a femme-bot land." He began.

"Oh yeah, the Hummer. Ironhide's…wife, right?" John smiled at that, it had been quite a shock to realize that the Cybertronians had females. Lord only knew that had turned out to be an interesting debriefing. "What, they had a kid or something?" Dead silence.

"…" John looked up again, now privy to the very rare sight of Optimus Prime's jaw literally hanging open. The Autobot leader closed it, struggling for composure.

"I-"

_Is that what the big secret is? _"Prime, if that's what the secret is, why are you worrying about it? That's really not our business per say. From what you told me, your race needs all the children it can get." The man smiled.

"It is." Optimus rumbled. "But-" A thought occurred to the Secretary of Defense, and he frowned.

"Oh. I can see now." Sector Seven's activities came back to mind, and the incident involving the now second-youngest member of the Autobot ranks. _Well, you can't blame them for not trusting us completely after that. I wouldn't do so either. Hell, it's probably a miracle I'm being told something like this. _"If security is your concern then, I promise I won't say anything."

"It's not just that. It's…" Optimus paused, trying to think of what to say next. "It's complicated, Mr. Secretary, and I would like to explain our reasons why we want and are keeping it a secret."

* * *

_Shortly after the war had started, he'd issued the order. All __Autobot __sparklings__ and younglings, along with non-__combantant__ family units and femmes were to be relocated. Already __Megatron's__ brutality had swept into even the outmost reaches of the planet, and the __Autobots__ feared for the safety of the next generation of __Cybertronians__. The small amount of neutral factions had gladly agreed to take shelter as well, and then surprisingly, a request of a ceasefire from the __Decepticons__. The leaders (all save for __Megatron__) also wanted their own innocents raised peacefully, as far from the war as possible._

_Floatila__ City had been born. A massive sky fortress that had once served as a scientific observatory, it was now converted into a sanctuary for __both sides__, femme, family unit, sparkling or youngling. Under the watchful protection of the femme-bots (__Autobot__ and __Decepticon__), it soon became __the most powerful neutral area in __Cybertron__. The femmes were able to get past the barriers that their __mech__ counterparts could not, due to the one common factor that united them; the protection of the little ones. As a result, the largest neutral faction on __Cybertron__ was also established, the Primus Dawn. Younglings who reached the Earth-equivalent of 18 __vorns__ of age were allowed a choice between the three factions, and the majority of them entered into either the __Autobot__ cause or the Primus Dawn. And then one __orn__Megatron__ killed every leader in the __Decepticon__ chain of command, declaring __himself__ absolute ruler over the faction. Barely less than a cycle after that the __Autobots__ found themselves having to dedicate every single resource they had to the defense of __Iacon__, as __Megatron__ had launched a full-scale attack. But because of __that__,there__ was no aid to send to __Floatila__ when the distress signal came in. And by the time the __Autobots__ realized what had happened, it was too late…_

_Megatron's__ death squads had done their work well. Every single sparkling, youngling, femme, __mech__Autobot__ and __Decepticon__, Primus Dawn…all were dead. The only femmes on the __Autobot__ side that had lived were the ones at __Iacon__ or other heavily fortified __Autobot__ bases. Nothing was known about any surviving __Decepticon__ femmes. Nor could __Optimus__ do anything about it, for the next surprise out of __Megatron's__ camp just about topped everything that had gone wrong…_

* * *

John Keller sat stunned in his seat.

"He ordered any femme or child, regardless of faction, be killed?" He whispered. "Any that survived…any that weren't in the city?"

"Yes. While there were no survivors of Floatila, there had been femmes outside." Optimus fell silent. "He all but doomed our race to extinction, and we could never figure out why."

"But…Bumblebee. He's…"

"Bumblebee is odd." The Autobot leader said, the lies coming easily. "We found him long after Floatila's destruction, wrapped up in a blanket outside of Iacon. He'd just onlined, and we could never find out who his creator or creators were." Thankfully the human seemed to accept that, nodding.

"So that's the main reason why you're fretting over…what's er..."

"Nightfire."

"That's why you're fretting over Nightfire's safety. You think this Shockwave or any other Decepticons might still be following Megatron's orders, even after his death." The red and blue mech nodded.

"Decepticons value strength. A sparkling or youngling is considered weak, and if it can't keep up…" A pause. "Not only is she the first sparkling in a long time, but she's a femme. Which makes her even more precious."

"I understand now." John murmured. He looked up at Optimus. "You don't have to worry. Your secret is safe with me."

"I know it is." Optimus rumbled. "You are a human we can fully place our trust in. However, I would like you to speak to Ironhide and Chromia."

"Of course."

* * *

"…My aft!"

"Primus." Ratchet muttered. Sideswipe was lying sprawled out on a table, smoke sizzling from his circuits and one very large plasma-created hole in his rear. The red Twin also sported some of the largest dents the CMO had ever seen, the left hand was nearly twisted at an odd angle and well…

"My aft!" Ratchet couldn't help himself, he started to snicker. He'd left Nightfire with First Aid and Red Alert, running down (with the sedatives of course to Sunstreaker's location). He'd arrived just in time to see Prowl get tossed like scrap metal though the wall, Hound go flying into a console, Bluestreak flying up into the air before landing with a sickening crash on the ground, and Ironhide?

Ironhide was aiming one cannon at Sideswipe's aft.

"You just stood there and let him shoot me!"

"I did not." Ratchet denied.

"Yes you did! You let him shoot me and then all you could do was roll around on the fraggin floor laughing!" To this Ratchet wisely chose not to answer, coming over and pushing an armor piece away on Sideswipe's arm.

"I believe the trauma has affected your processor. I'm giving you a painkiller and a sedative. When you wake up your aft will be good as new."

"Liar! You're going to take a picture of me, I know it!" Ratchet was quick to inject the medication into Sideswipe's exposed Energon line. "You glitching…bas…guuh." The yellow Autobot smirked, patting his victim on the foreplate.

"Sweet dreams."

* * *

"Ow, ow."

"Hold still!" Chromia said. Prowl winced but obeyed, watching as the femme used a welder to fix some of the more deeper gashes in his armor. First Aid was busy tending to Hound, Bluestreak was in partial recharge, and Ironhide…after getting hit with enough sedative to knock out Omega Supreme, was…the only way the black-and-white could describe it was 'happily' growling away in recharge in the brig. Unable to call Optimus for help (well technically, he could have contacted Prime but Prowl did not want to flaunt a breach of decorum in front of the US Secretary of Defense) it had fallen to him, Hound, Bluestreak and Chromia to try to peel the weapons specialist off of Sideswipe. Sunstreaker had been no help, laughing his aft off outside the room.

"Primus only wonders why you sparkbonded with him." Prowl said grumpily. This earned him a nasty glare from Chromia as she put the finishing touches on her emergency patch-up job.

"When it comes to matters of the spark-" Here Prowl hissed as fingers decided to grip very tightly around a recent weld. "It would be well for you to stay out of it."

"Translation, shut the frag up and don't anger the femme." Sunstreaker said, watching from his spot against the wall. "You forget the saying? 'Pit hath no fury like a femme enraged?'" Prowl wisely chose not to reply, flexing his fingers on his right hand as Chromia stood up.

"That should hold you over until Ratchet can see you." The door hissed, and Chromia turned around. "Optimus!" The Autobot leader stopped, looking at the wreckage that had been the recreation room.

"…What happened here?!"

"Ironhide and Sideswipe." First Aid replied.

"Primus!" The sound of metal hand meeting metal foreplate. "Of all the…Chromia. I need to see you outside for a minute." The femme nodded, following the Autobot leader.

"What is it, sir?" Optimus turned, crossing his arms.

"I know I had ordered to keep it a secret," He began. "But given the current situation, I felt that I should inform John Keller of Nightfire." The femme started violently, and Optimus held up a hand for silence. "He's trustworthy, and has promised to not tell anyone else, requesting to see you and Ironhide. I am sorry, but I felt that it was for the best." Chromia was silent for several breems, and then nodded.

"I understand sir." She said finally. "At some point, the humans would have to know…" Here worry crept back in her voice. "He really won't tell anyone?"

"He won't." Optimus said firmly. "I explained to him the reasons why we wish to keep Nightfire hidden, and he understands completely. Since your sparkmate is…indisposed at the moment, you may wish to see him for yourself."

"Where is he?"

"He's waiting on the bridge." Chromia nodded again.

"I'll go. I just need to pick up something first."

* * *

AN: Consider this chapter (aside from the Sideswipe pain) setup for future plot. For those of you who read Karategal's _Little Brother_, the idea of Floatila City is based on her first Optimus Prime chapter. As for the US/UN, I figure what...at some point, it's gotta come out that there are giant alien robots living on the planet, yes? However at this point it's just known within the goverments, it hasn't been made public for the mass media to know.


	17. Lull

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow some of their ideas.

* * *

**_Lull_**

Nightfire clicked contentedly in Chromia's arms as the femme walked towards the brig. Clutching her stuffed cat close to her and curled up almost into a ball, the little 'bot looked so sweet and innocent that Chromia could do nothing else but smile.

_My little one. _She clicked softly, in response Nightfire purred and only snuggled in deeper. "You've had quite the weekend, hmm?" To this Nightfire blinked blue optics at her mother, clicking again before curling up into an even smaller ball. "Now we're just going to see 'Hide, he got stuck in the brig again. Someplace I hope you're never going to go." The sparkling clicked, shuttering her optics and curling back into her mother's chassis. The older femme smiled, gently rubbing her fingers over the tiny head.

_The something she'd wanted to get had turned out to be __Nightfire__. Her own systems lurching with nervousness, she'd entered the bridge. Keller was on the balcony the __Autobots__ had built for their human counterparts, as she entered __Chromia__ felt slightly afraid. _

_Chromia!__ It's good to see you again." Keller had greeted her warmly, and then had stopped as his eyes landed on the dark-blue paintjob. _

_"Mr. Secretary." __Chromia__ responded. Setting __Nightfire__ down in her playpen, the femme forced herself to stay silent as the human walked to the railing and peered down at her sparkling. If he said anything to the contrary, she was afraid that she would go on the fritz. But to her surprise, Keller started to laugh._

_"I should probably give __Ironhide__ a shotgun! __Though with those cannons of his, he probably doesn't need one!"_

_"I beg your pardon?" __Chromia__ asked, feeling __herself__ start to bristle. How dare this human laugh at her sparkling! Having been warned about femmes' trigger tempers when it came to __sparklings__, Keller immediately stopped._

_"Sorry. It's just that well…she looks so cute. And when she gets bigger, she's probably going to be quite the knockout. I just had the mental picture of __Ironhide__ trying to keep the boys away." He explained. __Chromia__ processed that information, and then started to giggle as well._

_"I see. Please, forgive my-"_

_"No no, it's alright. If I were in your shoes I'd be anxious too." The white-haired man said. "And honestly, it's none of our business whether you have families or not. Knock yourselves out; you don't __need__ anyone's blessing. In fact, I should probably get this one a present."_

_"Oh no, you don't have to!" __Chromia__ protested._

_"No, I'd like to give her a little something." __Nightfire__ clicked in fascination as the human waved at her. "Yes, I see you. You look like you're going to be a handful when you get older."_

_"She already is." __Chromia__ couldn't help herself, the urge to brag was getting overwhelming. "At the rate she's going, she'll be walking and talking soon, and then when she has a few more __vorns__ on her, maybe a new body."_

* * *

"There was nothing to be worried about, was there?" Nightfire clicked in response. "Yes, I know. I shouldn't fret but…" Here Chromia gently rubbed her noseplate against her daughter's own. "You're my little one. I have to fret." Nightfire squealed and grabbed at her mother. "Alright. Let's go see 'Hide…" They entered the brig, and Chromia felt her mouthplates twitch in a smile as she saw her sparkmate stir.

"Well. Don't you look smug." She began. Ironhide smirked, holding out his arms.

"Nobody messes with this mech." He proclaimed. "I might be old, but I can still kick af-I mean skid plates." Chromia smiled as she deactivated the forcefield to get into her mate's cell. "Does Prowl know you're doing this?"

"Prowl is still in the medbay." Chromia replied. "Did Optimus tell-"

"Yes." Ironhide rumbled, now a look of concern had replaced his smirk. "Is-"

"He's trustworthy." The black mech sagged in relief. "He mentioned wanting to meet you though."

"If he gets your approval, then it's okay with me." The weapons specialist rumbled, though both he and Chromia knew that sometime later John Keller would be getting another call. This wasn't a matter of trust, no. Ironhide trusted Chromia completely. "Now getting off that subject…" Nightfire squeaked in delight as she was removed from her mother's arms, her being snuggling into the blazing fire that was Ironhide's spark. The black mech smiled, running a hand over the little bundle of dark-blue wires before setting her down on the floor. "Beat it, runt."

"Ironhide!" Chromia protested as she was pulled into an embrace. "We came down here to visit you!"

"Hide!" At this both mechs stopped, their optics going to the clicking sparkling on the floor.

"…Did you…" Ironhide began. Nightfire clicked, and then looked directly up at her mother.

"C..c…Chromia!" She squeaked. "Hide!"

* * *

The screaming had every Autobot dropping what they were doing and rushing towards the brig. Optimus was quicker, running into Ironhide and Chromia in the main hall.

"What is going-"

"Optimus, she can talk! She talks!" Chromia shrieked. "She said her first words! Here baby, look!" She pointed at Ironhide. "Who's that?" Nightfire clicked.

"Hide!" She squealed with delight. Optimus's optics widened.

"My smart one!" Ironhide crowed, picking up Nightfire from her mother and lifting her up into the air. "You said your first words! Here, who's that?" He adjusted the sparkling so she could look at Optimus. "Who's that, baby?"

"…Opti!" Optimus felt his mouthplates split into a wide smile, memories of Bumblebee's first words flooding back.

"Who's this?" Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had arrived, the yellow twin pointing at his brother. "Who's that, Nightfire?

"Sides! Sunny!" The twins roared with approval, Sideswipe taking the sparkling from Ironhide and rushing to the others.

"She's talking! She knows our names!"

* * *

Nightfire was quickly deposited in her playpen in the rec room, all the Autobots crowding around her. The sparkling squealed with delight, blinking blue optics and grabbing at Hound's hands.

"Hound!" She squeaked, resulting in the scout laughing and rubbing her little head.

"Who am I, baby?" Mirage asked, settling in next to the playpen. "Come on, I know you can say my name too!"

"Mi…Mirage!" Another series of exited clicks as Bumblebee came into her field of vision. "Bee!"

"Aww!" The yellow spy picked her up. "You know me! Smart 'bot! Smart 'bot!"

"Who am I?" Ratchet asked, coming close and pointing at himself. "I know you know me, Nightfire. Say my name. Ratchet." The sparkling paused, lifting one hand to her mouthplate. "Come on. Ratchet. Ratch-et."

"Hatchet!" Was the squeak. At this the room went completely silent, save for the desperate muffled snickers of the group. Fighting to keep his composure, Ironhide picked up the clicking Nightfire from Bumblebee's arms just as the sound of buzzing was heard. About to approach Nightfire, Jazz now thought it best to make a very fast exit.

"Jazz? I need to see you for a moment."

"Hey man, I jus' remembered that I gotta go do some…paperwork. Yeah. Paperwork."

"COME HERE!" Ratchet bellowed.

"See ya!" The silver mech was quick to transform, tires squealing as he tore out of the room. Ratchet roared in rage, pausing only to shudder into his own alt mode before following in hot pursuit.

* * *

All too soon Nightfire was sprawled out in her playpen, exhausted from all the new information she'd been processing. Deep in recharge, she was clutching her stuffed cat tightly, purring away.

"It's going to be fun now." First Aid commented, putting away some wires. "Walking is probably next, and then it's just going to be her obtaining and processing information."

"Will this body hinder her in any way?" Chromia asked from her spot next to the playpen.

"It shouldn't…I mean, you requested it to be that small, right?"

"Yes, but that was only because of the shortage of supplies…" The femme responded.

"I don't see any problems. Bumblebee was her size until he got his armor and cannons, she can probably last in the same manner." The medical 'bot responded, putting away a tray. "And we should be getting somewhat restocked soon, there was a response to Optimus's communication a couple of cycles ago."

"Do you know who?"

"Not yet, the transmission was garbled. But they're on their way, and they are bringing supplies." The door _hissed_ open, and Mirage stuck his head inside.

"Ratchet still not back yet?"

"No. Something wrong, Mirage?" First Aid had immediately stopped what he had been doing and walked over, scanning the sniper.

"I'm just still feeling tired, that's all." The white and blue 'bot allowed himself to sit on a recharge bed.

"You were in recharge, and then you slipped into stasis lock for a human month or so. Of course you're going to still feel tired, your systems aren't still completely back up to snuff." First Aid scolded.

"It was just a recon mission."

"Did you find anything?" Chromia asked, recognizing the potential for an argument, receiving a grateful smile from First Aid for changing the subject.

"No. Looks like they changed their base." Mirage answered. "Which makes sense; they don't want to be detected by us or the humans. Hound still thinks they're in the city though."

"Of course. They want to be able to keep an eye on us." First Aid replied. "If anything, I'll bet Frenzy probably found out by now about the _Ark_ and Autobot City."

"I wish them luck on double-crossing Starscream though." Mirage said. He started as First Aid pushed aside some armor and inserted an I.V. into an Energon line. "What the-"

"High-Grade. Of the _medical _kind. It'll help with the exhaustion." Was the reply. "Ratchet was hoping your systems could recover enough on their own without having to resort to this, but apparently they haven't. I need to let him know when he gets back from chasing Jazz…or ripping him a new one with his buzzsaw."

"Is it still the virus?" Chromia asked, concerned. "Didn't Ratchet's programs help any?"

"They did. In fact they're still active, just in case the damn bug tries to rebound." Was the response. Mirage nodded.

"Apparently instead of activating when I was in my transition mode…which it was supposed to do, it installed itself in my core programming." Mirage answered. "When I got out of transition mode, it activated and well…"

"Tried to delete you." Chromia finished, shivering. "Your proto-form managed to shield you from the injuries you got, but when you had to disengage and find an alt…how are you even _on_ the active list?"

"He's recovered enough. Besides, Optimus needs his skills teamed with Hound. Not to mention Ratchet…"

"Ratchet ripping out his systems to help? Yes, he needs to stop doing that." Mirage interrupted with a scowl on his faceplate.

"It's his programming, whether we like it or not." First Aid replied. "I'd do the same, but I'm not built to endure trauma like that. He is." He watched as Mirage flexed the hand of the arm where the I.V. had been inserted. "Feeling better?"

"Yes." Chromia looked back at the sleeping sparkling.

"…All we need now is a little bit of Energon and a lot of luck." She murmured, leaning back over the playpen and gently stroking Nightfire's head.

* * *

Next chapter: The Autobots find that one problem's been taken care for them...**_permamently_**.


	18. Going Under

AN: Credit to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a few of their ideas. Also, words spoken in Cybertronian are in bold and italics.

* * *

**_Going Under_**

Ratchet sighed as he looked down at his examination table. Today of all orns, almost four Earth months exactly to the orn when Nightfire had first onlined…instead of dealing with life, he now found himself dealing with death. Or in this case, trying to figure out what caused it. A gulp had him looking down, Mikaela was staring at the massive figure in front of her with wide eyes.

"Mikaela, if you feel you can't do this-"

"No, Ratchet." The human responded. "I want to do this, after all, how am I going to be able to learn how to help you guys?" Despite the situation Ratchet felt a smile cross his mouthplates.

"If that is your wish." Sighing, he activated his buzzsaw and advanced on the twisted and tangled pile of metal that had once been the Decepticon Starscream. "Let's see what happened here."

_A US nuclear submarine had found him just north northwest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It had taken the humans the better part of 3 weeks to pull his body to the surface; from there he was rushed immediately to __Autobot__ City. __Ironhide__ and Ratchet had immediately been able to positively I.D. the mangled frame as __Starscream__, with the CMO requesting permission to examine the remains before they __were dumped into the __Laurentian__ Abyss._

"Slag." Ratchet muttered as he pulled back the saw. "His frame's so twisted and warped I don't think I'll be able to cut away anything, let alone find out what happened."

"If you left and returned to a planet in an alternate form, aren't you supposed to have some sort of heat shielding?" Mikaela asked from her spot by Starscream's head.

"Yes. But from what I'm seeing, he didn't use it." Ratchet replied.

"Maybe he wasn't alive to use it." First Aid suggested, using his hands to pry away the metal on Starscream's legs. "The way his armor is suggests that he didn't have his heat shields up on reentry and then hitting and falling into the water like that…that's a drastic temperature change. Not to mention the pressure at those depths probably added to this whole mess." Ratchet had helped Mikeala onto the dead 'bot's chest, letting her clear away some of the wiring.

"So you think this happened when he was traveling?"

"Maybe he met up with some other 'Cons and you know…payback?" First Aid replied. "Starscream wasn't exactly well-liked by a lot of them."

"Why send him back here though?" Ratchet asked.

"Gah!"

"Mikaela!" The human had suddenly fallen down, one leg disappearing into Starscream's chest chassis. Ratchet was quick to reach in and free her, lifting her up and starting to run scans.

"Ow! I'm okay Ratchet, just dinged up a bit."

"Stay here." The medic rumbled, putting her down on the side.

"I'm fine, really! Just stepped into a hole." This gave Ratchet pause, and he went back over to Starscream's corpse.

"…I wonder." He rumbled, activating the buzzsaw again. Sparks flew as he cut into the metal, and then the saw stopped. "I thought so!"

"Thought what?" First Aid asked. In response Ratchet easily pushed aside Starscream's chest panel, a dark look on his face. Underneath his hands was a gaping maw, the pump box was wide open, frayed tubes and wires dangling in the middle.

"His spark was ripped out."

* * *

Optimus fought back the urge to shudder.

_Primus! _It was every Cybertronian's worst nightmare, to lose their spark in such a brutal manner. He shot a look at Ironhide and Chromia, Ironhide had gotten closer to his sparkmate and had wrapped an arm around her. Such a fate he wouldn't have wished on anyone, not even his own enemies.

"Is that what killed him?"

"It finished him off." Ratchet responded. "But judging from the extent of the wounds we were able to find, he was good as dead anyway." He nodded at Mirage. "What we found almost replicated Mirage's condition when he first came to Earth." The sniper jerked.

"What?"

"He'd lost his energy converters, his spinal relay was snapped in two, and the primary energon line was severed. If there was anything else, I couldn't find it; his frame was too badly damaged by the drastic changes in temperature and impact." Ratchet replied. "The difference between Starscream and Mirage though, there wasn't any indication of a virus in his systems."

"Could you get anything out of his processor?" Prowl asked.

"No."

"Do you think it was Shockwave?" Chromia asked. "I mean, if Starscream's injuries are similar to Mirage's own, save for the…" She trailed off

"Shockwave is cold-sparked, but I don't think he'd go that far." Sunstreaker said, a frown crossing his faceplates. "That was more Megatron's style." This time shivers were visible from the group.

"Either way, I've found out all I can." Ratchet said, breaking into the silence. "Although…"

"What is it?" Optimus rumbled. "Speak, Ratchet."

"The amount of seaweed and other marine life-" Ratchet began, trailing off for a moment before lifting his head and looking Optimus straight in the optics. "It's at least six human months' worth." Dead silence met this statement...and then the explosion.

_**"…WHAT?!"**_

* * *

Chromia gently cradled the clicking Nightfire in her arms.

"Chrom!" Was the squeal. "Energy!"

"Yes, I know, I know." The femme responded.

**_Yes yes!_** Chromia smiled, Nightfire was picking up on both English and Cybertronian quickly. _**Energy!**_

"If only our current situation was as simple as yours." She murmured, settling Nightfire down in a chair and giving her a tiny cube of Energon. Nightfire squealed and wrapped her tiny hands around the cube, carefully taking tiny sips. The door hissed open, but without even having to look back Chromia knew it was Ironhide.

"Well?"

"He's gone. The humans just took him." Was the response. Ironhide came over, gently rubbing a hand over Nightfire's head. "Primus, we get one problem taken care of and ten more arrive to take its place."

"Do you think it was Shockwave who killed Starscream?"

"I don't know. The timing doesn't seem right to me." Nightfire clicked happily at her father as she was lifted up and placed into his lap. "That backstabber being dead for six months..."

"That means he didn't make it very far." Chromia answered. Taking Nightfire's cube, she refilled it with Energon and gave it back to the giggling sparkling. "Do the other Decepticons know yet?"

"Not as yet. And even if they did find out, they can't do much of anything. Nor would they want to try and bring him back. They're missing his spark for starters, and now he has no body." The weapons specialist sat back, gently propping Nightfire with one hand as she worked on her Energon. "Technically it's their move now."

* * *

A black and white Dodge Charger accompanied by a green Jeep Wrangler Rubicon drove into the abandoned parking garage that had been used by Barricade and Swindle.

_I really don't think we'll find anything here, Prowl._

_It doesn't hurt to look around again. Especially now with Starscream's death._ Was the response. The Charger stopped, gyros grinding as he transformed into his original form. Hound followed suit, looking around.

"Do you want me to leave a listening device here?"

"It wouldn't hurt." Prowl answered. Hound nodded, opening up an arm compartment and taking out something. The scout walked over to a pile of garbage bins, intending to place it down when…

"Well, well." Prowl whipped around, gun at the ready. Barricade stood at the far end of the room, a smirk on his faceplates. "I see we have a copycat on our hands."

"I see somebody got his paintjob wrong. It's **_protect_** and_ **serve**,_ you scum."The Autobot responded.

"Gah!" Hound bellowed, falling back as Frenzy exploded from the trashcans. The silver Decepticon cackled and fired off several rounds at the Autobot before hurrying over to Barricade.

"Relax. He won't harm you. For now at least."

"What do you want, Decepticon?" Prowl barked.

"Is it true that Starscream's dead?" The two Autobots jerked in surprise.

"How did you-"

"Idididots, the both of you!" Frenzy cackled, waving his claws at the trio. "Isisis bitch deaddeaddead?"

"Yes." Prowl said warily. "Starscream is dead."

"Dingdongbitchisdead! Heeheehee!"

"Hmph." Barricade rumbled, crossing his arms. Prowl and Hound shot each other a look, Prowl nodding at the scout.

"Did you also know he'd been dead for six months?" The scout ventured. This resulted in Frenzy nearly falling down in surprise and Barricade starting violently.

"What?"

_Guess Frenzy isn't as good as he thinks he is._

_Or they already knew, and are just playing processor games with us._ Prowl replied. "Apparently, he didn't get very far…he died and his body was all but thrown back here."

"Either way, it's one problem taken care of for both our sides." Was the ominous rumble. "However, what killed him…" This time it was Prowl's turn to jerk in surprise.

"What?!"

"You know something?!" Hound exclaimed. Frenzy looked up at his partner, gabbling something in that strange tongue of his. Barricade evidently understood, nodding.

"If you know something, tell us!" Prowl demanded. Barricade lifted his head, smirking at his bi-color counterpart.

"No." With that he shuddered back into his alternate form, one door opening to allow Frenzy admittance. The small 'bot scampered in, cackling crazily and flipping both Autobots the finger as the Saleen Mustang tore out of the garage.

"Prowl!"

"I'm on it." The black-and-white replied. "You get back to Optimus." Siren and lights turning on the minute the transformation was finished, the Dodge Charger revved its engine and sped after the Mustang.

* * *

Frenzy crawled into the backseat, peering out of the window.

"Autobot follow!"

"Yes, that's automatic." Barricade rumbled back.

"Can we have funfunfun?"

"A little bit." Barricade replied, turning on his own siren and lights. The hacker cackled.

"Vroomvrroomvroom!"

* * *

The 'fun' extended to both cars chasing each other up and down on Nevada's highways. Of course, the humans weren't suspicious. Really. What was so odd about two police cars speeding on the highway, lights flashing and sirens going full blast? It certainly provided some entertainment for the kiddies in the backseats of minivans.

The chase came to an end at an old dock. Frenzy divebombed out of Barricade's driver side window as the Decepticon transformed, with Prowl not too far behind.

"Not bad for an Autobot. Or your alternate form." Barricade rumbled. Then he rolled his optics as Prowl aimed a gun at him. "Oh give it up already."

"You know something."

"Correction. I _suspect _something. I don't know something." The Decepticon replied. "Oh, your processor must be going on the fritz right now. Should you arrest me or get information out of me?" Prowl's optics narrowed. "If I were you, I'd suggest leaving me alone for now, and maybe then I might consider talking."

"You wouldn't be even acting like this or even considering giving me any information if you weren't worried about your own hide." Was the answer from Prowl. "Which means there's something even bigger than what was going on among your faction. And for you to even consider giving us Autobots information means it's something that affects us all as Cybertronians. But then again, I could be wrong, and it's just you playing processor games."

"Hmph."

"Screwyou!" Frenzy spat, flipping Prowl the finger. "Cancancan I killkillkill him now?!"

"Not now, Frenzy." The Decepticon answered. Extending one hand, he let the silver 'bot scamper up his armor before turning his attention back to Prowl.

"Tell Optimus this." Frenzy ducked back into Barricade's chest compartment as the black-and white 'bot started to transform. "If he suspected that the massacre at Floatila truly wasn't masterminded by his brother, then he's correct."

"_**WHAT**_? Wait!" Prowl cried. "Megatron wasn't behind Floatila?! Then who was?!" No response, for Barricade was speeding away. "Barricade!" Nothing. The black and white Autobot was left to stare at the disappearing figure of the faux police car, his very processors in turmoil at the words just uttered.

**_Hide? Story!_**

"Alright, runt." Ironhide replied, a smile in his voice. Picking up a multi-colored cube from a side table, he settled down on a couch and allowed Nightfire to snuggle in. **_I'm no good at this though._**

**_Story!_**

**_English, 'Fire. Remember to speak English every now and again._**

"Sorry!" Nightfire squeaked. "Story, 'Hide! Story!"

"Let's see here." Ironhide turned the cube around in his hand. "Ah, here's one-"

"Ironhide!" The weapons specialist looked up to see Bumblebee standing in the doorframe.

"Bumblebee?" Ironhide rumbled, sitting up slightly. Nightfire squealed with delight at seeing her 'big brother'. "What's going on?"

"You need to get to the bridge right now. Prowl's back from chasing Barricade and you're not going to believe what he found out!"

* * *

AN: Alright, it occured to me that I might need to have a list of who assumed what car forms for the fic, so here we go:

Wheeljack: Working with G1 for him, he's a white Lancia Stratos Turbo with red and green racing stripes.

First Aid: Red and white ambulance.

Red Alert: Red search and rescue Ford SUV (still trying to figure out the make and model, I saw a picture on a website when I was researching forms for him)

Prowl: Modifed police back and white Dodge Charger. Also of note, the line he says "it's protect and serve scum" is from an icon I saw on Livejournal. I can't remember who made it, and I put in 'scum' instead of the curse word that was originally used. It's not mine, but it was too good to pass up for this scene.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe: Yellow and red Lamborghini Murciélagos respectively. Come on. You know it's too good to change. ;)

Swindle: Yellow and purple Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

Hound: Green Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

Bluestreak: Blue Honda Civic (slightly braindead on that one)

I also have to thank Karategal for helping me with Elita's alternate form. That you shall see later on, in a distant chapter...


	19. Summoning

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a few of their ideas.

* * *

**_Summoning_**

Knowing that he was more than likely the hot topic amongst the Autobots currently, Barricade had made his way out of Tranquility and to one of the more remote Army bases located in the desert. Aware that he'd be identified if any officer who knew about the events at Mission City spotted him, the Saleen Mustang settled for waiting underneath the shade of a rock overhang. For the comfort of his partner however, he left the air conditioning running.

"Tttthank you. You be okayokayokay?"

"I'm fine for the moment." The shade was more than comfortable enough and hopefully they wouldn't have long to wait...and they didn't. Engines thundered above them, and then the grinding sounds of a Transformation. The resulting blue and black 'bot gave his welcome party a once-over.

"Well, I know you have to enjoy _that_ form."

"It's alright." Barricade rumbled. "You look considerably better in yours." Thundercracker shrugged.

"Not bad for a human design." He answered, carefully sitting down. "Is it true? Are both of them dead?"

"Yes." Silence for several minutes, and then Barricade spoke again. "I thought it would make you happy. Now you can declare yourself a Neutral, just like how you always wanted." To this the jet was silent, with Barricade watching him. Thundercracker had been only a vorn out of Floatila when the city had been destroyed; he'd still had close connections to his friends there. The black Mustang knew that the jet had only stayed loyal to the Decepticon cause for fear of Megatron and Starscream. Now the Seeker was free to do as he wished.

"What's the point? The war's over now." Thundercracker finally answered.

"Oh please. You know just as well as I that some of our kind are not going to take that lying down." The Salen said.

"Like you?"

"I personally don't care. And neither does he." Frenzy waved at Thundercracker before resuming his Internet search on the cop car's laptop. "However, considering past experiences…there may be a potential situation developing."

"Situation? Is that why you sent out that message?"

"Yes." Frenzy popped out the driver's side window as Barricade transformed. "Our former leader might not be as dead the Autobots and some of our kind is wont to believe." Thundercracker jerked in surprise.

"What?"

"It was always a mystery that despite the many grievous wounds Optimus Prime gave him over the period of our war…many that should have killed him; Megatron was always able to recover fully, yes?" The Seeker nodded warily. "Well, I was able to find out why."

"…Anyone could, it's not too hard to guess that maybe he had more advanced programming when it came to self-regeneration." Thundercracker ventured.

"Nononono!" Frenzy skittered. "Same asussameasus! And same as mememememe!"

"Same as you?" Thundercraker repeated. "I know you can recover from some near-fatal wounds Frenzy, but just how-"

"Megatron had two power sources." Barricade replied. "The first was his spark. The second…was something alien." The Seeker's optics widened.

"What?"

"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time one orn." Was the reply. "Megatron possessed a dark matter core that enhanced his normal healing ability to…how do the humans put it? Ah yes. 'Insane levels'."

"Cybertronian?" Thundercracker wanted to know.

"No." Barricade had to keep himself from smirking at Thundercracker's optics threatening to pop out of their sockets with surprise. "Alien. And don't ask me, because I don't know, and that I will swear to on my spark." Thundercracker blinked, trying to collect himself.

"But the Allspark killed him. Surely his body couldn't…"

"It could, and I believe it is." Barricade responded. "As for dragging him back from well, wherever he's been…" The black and white lazily shrugged. "I really don't care. What worries me is that core. Even though his spark and the AllSpark were destroyed…"

"Theretherethere piece of AllSpark left!" Frenzy hissed, clicking his mandibles. "Probability ververyveryvery good piece of hishis spark left as well!"

"So he could come back." Thundercracker responded, feeling his spark sink.

"Yes. Considering if there was anyone loyal enough to be willing to make the trip to get his body and to procure us a medic. Preferably the only one who's done this type of thing once before." The Seeker's head popped up at this. "Oh, you didn't know?"

"Know what?" Barricade smiled.

"I never fully believed what the Autobots said about their CMO, but now…" Frenzy cackled evilly at the tone in his partner's voice.

"Ratchet. Veryveryvery smart. For an Autobot."

* * *

Unaware that _he_ was now the topic of discussion in the Decepticon camp, Ratchet frowned as he reviewed the results of the basic medical diagnostics on his fellow 'bots. First Aid's idea of the High-Grade transfusions seemed to be working well for Mirage, Ironhide and Chromia's scans were all normal, but Optimus…

_All systems operating normally at 50 percent._

"Primus." Ratchet muttered. It was nothing that a few orns' worth of rest couldn't fix, but getting Optimus to even entertain the idea of a few orns off was hard enough, and Ratchet had a sinking feeling in his spark that this dealt with more than overwork.

_He's missing __Elita__. Pit, I should have noticed this sooner. _The CMO dragged in a deep breath of air though his vents. _Should have known he was going to take __Ironhide__ and __Chromia's__ relationship harder than he was letting on, and __Nightfire's__ probably aggravated the situation to Pit and back. _Sparkmates literally could be apart for long periods of time, missions such as the one to recover the AllSpark were almost like handing out a death sentence. Ratchet had heard the stories, separated sparkmates who were apart for so long that they slowly started to shut down, unable to bear the pain of not having their loved one near. They slowly sank into deep depressions, losing all hope for life, not taking care of their basic functions, even not recharging until death eventually took them. And when one sparkmate died, the other would be not too far behind.

_Primus save me, how am I going to snap him out of this? _The logical (and correct) course of action would be to send Optimus back to Cybertron, since that was where he had left Elita. But considering what Mirage had seen, then the potential problem of Shockwave, the current ones of Barricade, Frenzy and Swindle, more arriving Autobots…

"Hatchet!" The squeak brought Ratchet out of his thoughts. Leaning back in his chair, he looked down by his right foot to see a pair of tiny blue optics looking up at him.

"…Hello. And what are you doing here?" Nightfire squealed and clicked at him. "Isn't somebody supposed to be watching you?"

"Somebody is." Was the response. The CMO looked up to see Ironhide standing in the doorframe of his office.

"I don't think this is proper sparkling-sitting." Nightfire squealed again, and then settled for starting to hit Ratchet's leg with her stuffed cat. "…Nor do I believe that is normal."

"There is no such thing as normal." Ironhide declared, striding over and picking up his daughter. Nightfire squeaked in anger and started to struggle, not liking that her 'fun' had been interrupted.

"No!"

"Primus, she knows that already?"

"It's her new favorite word." Ironhide grunted, putting the squirming bundle of dark-blue wires into the playpen. "And of course, she's had to act ornery for the past several cycles." More squeaks of rage, and then several toys came flying out of the playpen. "Nightfire, stop."

"No!"

"Where have I heard that before?" Ratchet mused. "Before you and the little one there decide to get into it, come here for a minute." Leaving Nightfire to angrily click at her toys, Ironhide moved to stand behind the CMO.

"What is it?" Ratchet tilted the viewscreen.

"Optimus's medical report." The weapons specialist briefly scanned the data, jerking in surprise before a sorrowful look came over his faceplate. "And don't you dare blame yourself. If anything, it's my fault. I should have been keeping a better eye on him."

"Slag it." Ironhide muttered, not even wincing when Ratchet hit him. "She didn't hear me."

"You never know."

"Can you do anything?"

"Aside from somehow teleporting Elita instantly here? Not very much." The CMO sighed. "He needs some time off, but then I'm worried he'll just start brooding and go into an even deeper depression. Maybe if someone could talk to him…"

"I'll do it." Ironhide rumbled. "You just get him off-duty." The sound of Nightfire giggling had both mechs looking up. "Fire? What's going on?"

_Crash!_

Both the CMO and the weapons specialist made a beeline for the door. The sight that greeted their optics was a sprawled out Bumblebee, the contents of a medical cupboard spilled out around his yellow frame.

"Bee? What are you doing?"

"Ouch. I was trying to get a couple of supplies to keep with me." The scout responded.

"You could have asked me to do that." Ratchet scolded, coming over and bending down to pick up the fallen items.

"You and Ironhide were busy. Hey, where's Nightfire?"

"Right there." The black mech rumbled, pointing. Nightfire squeaked with delight and waved eagerly.

"Bee!" She trilled.

"You want to take her for a couple of cycles? I have to go and meet with Prime about something."

"Sure." The yellow spy replied, standing up. Unseen to Ratchet and Ironhide however, he slipped a vial of liquid into a storage compartment, tucking it away just in time as the black mech returned with a wriggling and giggling Nightfire. "Hello there!"

"I'm going to be with Sam and Mikaela though, is that okay with you?" Bumblebee asked, taking Nightfire from Ironhide.

"That's fine…wait. Are you three heading out?"

"No, we're staying here. If anything we'll probably head out to Autobot City."

"Let either Chromia or I know first before you leave." The smaller 'bot nodded, clicking at Nightfire as they walked away, the sparkling issuing her own rapid set of clicks and squeaks back. Ratchet stood up, having finished with his cleaning.

"…Want me to issue the order and then we can drag him out of his office?" He asked, a grin appearing on his faceplates.

"You know he's not going to like that." Ironhide rumbled back, returning the smile in kind.

"If it makes him forget about what he _must_ do and for him to be himself for several breems, then I don't really fraggin care." Ratchet responded.

"Language."

"She's not here."

"I should hit you."

"Do and you never will be able to enjoy anything spark-related with Chromia again."

"You sick 'bot." Ratchet couldn't help himself, he chuckled.

* * *

His computer wasn't working. Optimus frowned, tapping on the keyboard.

_Oh no. Primus, this is the last thing I need. _More tapping, and then the screen went black. "What the…"

"Having problems?" The Autobot leader looked up to see Ratchet standing in the doorframe.

"Apparently so." He rumbled. "The system's locked me out."

"I know. I told it to do so." A red and blue head jerked up.

"What?"

"As Chief Medical Officer, I'm declaring you unfit for active duty for the next orn and a half."

"WHAT?" Ratchet relished the look on his old friend's face; it wasn't every day that one got to 'yank the rug' out from underneath Optimus's feet.

"You're running on only half of your power. Also, you've been working nonstop for the past several orns. Therefore, you are off duty so you can get a break and relax."

"I dare you to enforce that!" Optimus rumbled, air escaping from his vents with a violent hiss. The smile on Ratchet's face only got bigger.

"Really?"

* * *

The ceiling shook.

"Whoa, what was that?" Sam said, looking from where he had been making faces at Nightfire. Wheeljack, who had been alerted (warned) of the situation didn't even bother to look up from his lab table.

"Sounds like Optimus decided to try Ratchet's patience." He chuckled, his fins flashing green. "We're alright just as long as we stay in here."

"Are you sure?" Mikaela asked worriedly, watching the ceiling shake again.

"It's fine." Bumblebee assured her. "Just give it a couple of cycles and everything will be alright. Unless Sunstreaker and Sideswipe decide to get into a fight again and go into the medbay, and then that's when we need to get out of here." Making sure Wheeljack couldn't see him; he made optic-to-eye contact with Sam, tapping the compartment where he'd hidden the vial. Sam nodded, returning his attention to the squeaking sparkling.

* * *

"Ironhide! When I get my hands on you-"

"Jazz, couldn't you make his mouth shut?"

"Hey man, I'm risking my armor here enough as is!" To this Ironhide didn't say anything, but only tightened his grip around Optimus. The shaking that had startled Sam and Mikaela had actually been both him and Ratchet rushing the Autobot leader, knocking him to the ground and then bellowing for Jazz to come in and use his magnets. Prowl had wisely elected to stay clear, taking his place in Optimus's office and resuming the work that the Autobot leader had left.

In the meantime, Optimus had been pushed (shoved) and pulled (dragged) outside into the main hall, and now they were almost near their goal…the main entrance of the _Ark._

"You know, you asked for this!" Ratchet grunted, prying his friend's hands off a doorframe. "You could have just walked out peacefully but no, you had to be a hard-aft!"

"I have work to finish!"

"Prowl will finish it for you."

"This is not necessary!" Jazz had darted ahead to open the doors. "Jazz!"

"Sorry Prime! Ya'll have fun now, you hear?" And with that, Optimus found himself outside of the Ark, Ironhide standing right behind him, and hearing Ratchet's laughter as the doors closed. The weapons specialist smirked.

"Guess it's just you and me, old friend." To this Optimus had no response save for just sitting down where he stood, putting his head into this hands.

"Primus, what did I do to deserve this?"

* * *

AN: Next chapter, Optimus and Ironhide talk (somewhat), and just what Bee and Sam are really up to.

Also, Megatron's core? Again swiped from the movie guidebook. Bwahah.


	20. Lockdown

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity, and Landray Depth Charge for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Also if Prime seems a little OOC to you, I beg pardon and ask that you indulge me, at this point he's pretty lovesick/stressed out/lonely/just needs a hug.

JML, as for Prime and the guide...it does list his spark as being one of the most powerful energy sources after the AllSpark, even if you breach the casing of it there's a danger of radiation fallout. His frame is also hyper-coiled, giving him extreme strength that he's afraid to use due to 'collateral damage'.

Edit: I HATE ffnet eating my formatting!

* * *

**_Lockdown_**

At first, it didn't seem too out of place. A massive Peterbuilt truck and a pickup parked by the lookout, certainly a rather odd place to be but maybe there was a good reason. However, when the Peterbuilt shuddered and started to stand up on a pair of legs, yes well…

The sight of a rather big alien robot reluctantly sitting down and sighing was _defiantly _out of place. The black pickup put itself in reverse before carefully parking alongside Optimus, gears twisting and turning as Ironhide assumed his original form.

"What's wrong?" The answering glare had him activating a cannon. "Don't you even dare. We may be friends, and you are my leader, but if I have to I _will_ beat the slag out of you."

"Not before I personally offline your cannons."

"Do and you'll find yourself off-duty for much longer than an orn and a half." Ironhide rumbled, running a hand over one of the crackling monsters. To this Optimus sighed, shuttering his optics.

"It's not worth it." He rumbled, turning away and resuming his original position. "Just not worth it at all."

"See, that kind of attitude is what had that bit-brain come after you!" Ironhide snapped. Maybe he should have kept on trying to provoke him into a fight. It'd been a while since he and Optimus had exchanged blows (on friendly terms of course), maybe _that_ would help his friend feel better. "Primus, whatever's eating up at you, just get it **_out_**!"

"I'm fine." Optimus repeated stubbornly.

"It's Chromia and I, isn't it?" A twitch from Prime had the weapons specialist barreling on. "And Nightfire? I knew that was slag about you wishing us 'the best of happiness'!"

"WHAT?" Optimus roared, pulling himself to his feet.

"If you're jealous of me, just say it!"

"I am not jealous!"

"Bullshit!" Ironhide snarled, the human curse word a very satisfying expression for this situation. "You are! Primus blast you, if you want your own family unit, _go **find **__your femme! _Or _make_ a little one if you don't think going out to search for Elita is worth it-" This hit far too close to home for Optimus, and something in him snapped.

"You bastard!" Ironhide barely had any time to even prepare, Prime's red and blue frame slamming into him with the force of a plasma explosion, sending both 'bots sprawling to the ground. Ironhide was quick to return the favor, fingers of his right hand curling into a fist and punching Optimus in the jaw. Prime grunted from the force of the impact, his grip slackening just enough to allow Ironhide to break free and rain a series of blows on him.

"When did you become such a slagging coward, Prime? Huh?! The old Optimus I knew wasn't afraid of anything!" Again, the words hit home with the Autobot leader, and roaring in rage he reached out and gripped Ironhide in a full-nelson, gears whining as he slowly drew upon his full strength.

"You don't know anything!" He grunted. "You don't know anything at all!"

"Then **_tell _**me!"Was the answering snarl. Feeling his armor slowly starting to buckle due to the stress, Ironhide settled for the quicker (and somewhat non-violent) way of escaping his friend's grasp. Shutting his optics, he let his frame go limp, knowing that it would shock Optimus out of his rage. As the Autobot leader immediately relaxed his grip, Ironhide capitalized by suddenly gripping a red and blue hand, locking down his feet and putting everything he had into the throw. For Optimus, he was treated to suddenly being airborne, and then looking at a now upside-down Ironhide. A snarl behind his mouthguard, he rolled to the side, subspacing his gun and aiming it at a black chestplate…

Only to see one of Ironhide's cannons aimed at his head, plasma crackling and glowing as it was superheated beyond belief.

"Try." The weapons specialist rumbled, grinning. "Please, give me a reason." Optimus couldn't help it, a smile broke across his own face and he dropped his gun, laughing. The tension and stress of the past several days bubbled out, and the Autobot leader curled into himself, dragging in a deep breath when a sob threatened to come out. Ironhide deactivated his weapon, waiting for his friend to regain his composure.

"Primus, I thought you were going to crush me in two." He muttered, inspecting several decent-sized dents in his armor.

"The thought occurred to me." Optimus replied. A sigh escaping his vents, he lay down on the ground, one hand coming up to cover the area where his spark lay beneath layers of armor, wiring, and tubes, shuttering his optics. "It hurts, Ironhide." To this the weapons specialist had no reply, save for coming over and sitting next to his friend.

"I know it does. But Optimus, you don't…" He searched for words. "You don't always _have_ to be our leader! You don't always have to put our needs before your own; Primus knows you've been doing that for too long already!"

"I made an oath, Ironhide." Prime rumbled. "And as long as I live, I _must_ put the needs of our kind above anything I desire. To do otherwise would make me like…"

"Finish that sentence and I **_will_** blast you." Ironhide snarled, trembling from the effort of _not_ immediately activating his cannons. "You're nothing like him! And wanting your own desires doesn't make you like him!" To this Optimus chose not to respond.

_Look at what happened the last time I desired something, and put my own needs before that of everyone else. _But he couldn't think of it in such terms, how could he? Bumblebee had been the result, and Optimus found that he couldn't regret his decision to create the yellow minibot. His baby brother…his youngling. Despite his harsh upbringing, and all that had happened to him…

_My fault. _On the heels of that though, Ironhide's words from several breems before.

"_Make a little one!" _One optic opened, peering at the black armored form of the weapons specialist. Ironhide didn't respond, just simply stared back.

_Slag it, I nearly let everything slip out. _All those vorns ago, he'd let Optimus believe that he'd given up on that forbidden subject, when really he hadn't. _And if he thinks I'm the only one who suspects, he **is **__slipping._

* * *

_It had been shortly after the events at __Beta Nebulae. __Optimus__ and the others had retreated to Artemis __I,__ and Bumblebee had been happily clicking away in recharge with Prowl and the others. __Ironhide__ was in the middle of blasting some __holo__ 'Cons._

_Yo__ 'Hide! I need to talk to you!" The weapons specialist stopped the program, turning to see Jazz by the doorway._

_"Can it wait?"_

_"Sure. The fact that our '__lil__ youngling there has one Pit of a radar when it comes to __Optimus__ and that __fragger __Megatron__, not to mention why the Pit-spawned bootleg was after 'Bee, or how that if we probably hadn't been around, Prime would have ripped __Megatron's__ spark out with his bare hands…or hey! How's this? The fact that being able to pick up on somebody else's signal is something you only get with a processor upgrade or **if you're related to them**_." _The Special Ops officer grinned as he found himself staring down the barrel __of a__ plasma cannon. __"Knew that would get your attention."_

_"How much do you know?" __Ironhide__ rumbled._

_"Not a __fraggin__ thing. I suspect." Jazz answered, dancing away from the cannon and striking a pose on one of the side benches. "I assume you're in the same process as well. __Whoo__Ironhide__ didn't say anything, but deactivated his weapon._

_"I thought I was the only one."_

_"Pit no." Jazz snorted. "Anyone with half a CPU could probably guess at it after seeing those two together. Primus, even __Megatron's__ behavior would make somebody start thinking!" Flexing his claws, he pondered one of the frozen 'Cons. "But you know the only one who can get anything out of him is __Elita, __frag__ it."_

_"And she's away with __Chromia__Ironhide__ murmured. The thought of his bonded made his spark ache slightly, __Elita__ had taken the few remaining __Autobot__ femmes on a mission to try and find any more of their kind on __Cybertron__. "I guess…all we can do is __protect__ them both." __A nod from Jazz.__ "And if anything, make sure this stays between us." _

_Ain't__ a problem for __me._

And it hadn't. Jazz had been as good as his word, though Ironhide had caught him thoughtfully looking at Optimus and Bumblebee every now and again. The weapons specialist glanced over again at his friend; Prime had closed the shutter and appeared to be in recharge. Ironhide couldn't blame his friend for that, after all it had been what Ratchet had ordered, the glitching bastard. Deciding to give the Autobot leader a couple of breems, Ironhide stretched out as well.

* * *

"Now this is how you do it." Bumblebee instructed, making sure Nightfire was watching him. "When you get picked up like this-" Nightfire automatically tucked her legs and arms into a little ball as the yellow spy picked her up by the scruff-bar. "Good good. But you want to try to get even smaller. And blink your optics-not too fast though, or else you'll wreck it." Nightfire obeyed, clicking quizzically. "Good! Just like that! And don't forget the squeaks and clicks. Do this and I promise you will be able to do whatever you want." Putting the sparkling back down in her playpen, Bumblebee considered his next words. "Maybe you might be able to even get past Prowl! You're a femme, so you have one extra on me…"

"Dude, you are so dead if Ratchet catches you doing this." Sam said, looking up from his laptop. "Are you sure that this stuff is good enough?" He pointed to the vial, which was hidden rather poorly at the moment in-between two holo-cubes.

"It's the most powerful sedative he's got." Bumblebee replied.

"Powerful enough to overcome the most caffeinated drink Starbucks can produce?"

"We'll just have to see. Besides, we're not taking him back here."

"Hell no. You want Ironhide to hand you your head?" Sam responded. "Do you want me to search for Starbucks in Tranquility?"

"Mission City." Bumblebee replied, watching Nightfire roll over in her playpen, the sparkling clicking at him. "He's safe there since he wasn't part of the battle a vorn ago."

"Yeah well, we got the crackhead taken care of, but what about his dealer?" The human muttered. It took Bumblebee several breems to process that statement, and then he fell down laughing.

"Hahaha!!"

"I got another one for you." Sam said, his brown eyes dancing with mirth. "Barricade is the pimp, and Frenzy is the-"

"Not in front of Nightfire!" Bumblebee spluttered. "Stop, Sam! Ow! No more!"

"Come on man, think about it."

"Not in front of the sparkling! Ha!" The teenager snorted, returning to his Google search.

"Driving around, maybe visiting a client or two…"

"STOP." Nightfire giggled as her 'big brother' rolled around on the floor, clutching her stuffed cat close.

"Pimpin' pimpin' pimpin!"

"Bwahahaha! Stop it, Sam, I'm begging you!"

"Pimp!" Nightfire squeaked. Dead silence filled the room as Bumblebee stopped laughing and Sam stopped typing, both friends looking at the sparkling with identical expressions of horror.

"Oh oh."

* * *

Ratchet felt his cooling system go into overdrive as he surveyed both Optimus and Ironhide. Behind him the Twins were struggling to keep straight faces, having come in for repair work themselves.

"…I believe I said to relax." He began. "And the last time I checked, the definition of relax did not include **_beating the Pit out of each other._**"

"He started it." Optimus rumbled, fighting back a smile.

"He wouldn't listen to me." Ironhide said, shrugging. Then he stepped back as a violent hiss of air escaped Ratchet's vents.

"Sit…over…there." The medic hissed, pointing at two recharge beds. "And when I am done banging the dents out of these two Unicron-spawn-"

"HEY!"

"You take that back!"

"I will deal with you."

_All your__ fault. _Ironhide texted Optimus.

_Mine?! _

_Let's sit down before __he__ glitches out or something. _Any reply Optimus would have made was stopped by the main doors hissing open and closed, Bumblebee rushing in with a giggling Nightfire in his arms.

"HeyRatchetlistenSamandIhavetogoanddosomethingsohere'sNightfirebye!" Quick to deposit the sparkling in her playpen, the yellow spy made a beeline for the exit. Sadly, he wasn't quick enough…

"Pimp!" The word had every single Autobot in the bay freezing, five pairs of blue optics going to the crazily-giggling sparkling and then to the frozen minibot near the doorway. "Pimp pimp!"

_**"…BUMBLEBEE!"**_

"Ironhide, Ratchet, no!"

* * *

AN: The 'pimp' joke is the result of a AIM convo I had with some members of one of the many TF communities at LJ. Lawl.

Also, Beta Nebulae is a reference to Karategal's _Youngling. _


	21. Open Wounds

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity, and Landray Depth Charge for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Also, this chapter is going to be just on the short and sweet side, I ran into some difficulty with this and I wanted to get it out and up before I lost the momentum.

* * *

**_Open Wounds_**

It had worked for him when he'd been younger. Sheepishly, Bumblebee blinked his blue optics into the face of Optimus, his frame going limp from when he'd been picked up by the back of his neck armor.

"Don't even try that." The Autobot leader rumbled. A muffled roar had them both looking at the door, Wheeljack and Perceptor both trying to calm Ironhide and Ratchet down. "Would you like to deal with them instead?"

"No!"

"Then how did Nightfire learn that word?" To this Bumblebee deactivated his voice processor, no way was he going to give Sam up! "Logic dictates that it was only you and Sam watching her. And since that word _is_ human…"

"IT WAS HIM? I'M GONNA BLAST HIM INTO PIECES!" Ironhide had somehow gotten though the door and was staring at the duo. "WITWICKY!"

"Ironhide, no!" Optimus barked, suddenly releasing Bumblebee. The yellow spy was quick to rebound, tucking and rolling away before making a beeline out the door. The weapons specialist roared, images of making Sam nothing more than a smear dancing though his processor.

* * *

"Yumyumyumyum!" Barricade groaned, shifting on his wheels.

_Primus blast__ me to Pit, why did I introduce him to coffee?_ Now the silver 'bot would be literally bouncing off the walls for the next several cycles…or in this case, bouncing off Barricade's interior.

"Are we all settled now?" He asked dryly. The response was Frenzy tossing the empty Starbucks cup out of the window.

"Whatwedononow?" The Saleen pondered this question, pausing only to make a turn and head out onto the interstate.

"Well, you know what we will eventually have to do." He replied, wincing slightly as Frenzy started to screech and jabber insanely, poking at his dashboard and computer console. "Stop that! I don't like it either, but there is no other choice now is there?"

"Don'twannateamwithstupidAutobots!"

"We're _not going to have a choice._" Barricade repeated, his tone getting testy. "Not for this. Not for what our so-called leader got us into."

"Isthatwhywhyyouwantbodyback? And callcallShockwave?"

"Shockwave is to cover our afts respectively." The Decepticon rumbled. He'd played two sides before, but nothing like this. It was going to take every single scrap of knowledge he'd collected over the countless vorns and then some to make sure both he and Frenzy got out of this with their sparks intact. "If anything, we at least have a good couple of vorns to prepare adequately. If the Autobots only knew half the story…"

_It had been the destruction of Floatila that had given Barricade pause. Murder of Autobots-femme or mech- was one thing, Neutrals another. But sparklings…younglings…even the femmes of their own faction? Wisely, Barricade kept his vocal processor quiet on the matter, a move that saved his own armor when Megatron again turned on his allies, wiping out nearly all of the mechs that had served as the 'death-squads' for Floatila…the only one left alive was Shockwave. Now even the most hardened of Decepticons were in fear of the former Lord Protector, and if the Autobots only knew how high the Decepticon body count was internally following Floatila's destruction, Barricade knew that the Autobots would have capitalized on it to force an end to the Great War._

_Maybe he should have said something. Maybe he shouldn't have gone to the medical wing that orn. Pit, maybe he shouldn't have __left __the Decepticon base camp outside of Iacon, period. But he had, and as a result…_

_"UUUWAAAAGGGGGG!!"_

_Seeing the Decepticon leader rolling around and screaming on the floor, black energy crackling around him as it forced the wounds inflicted on his armor to heal…_

_**Do what we tell you**!_

_"NO! I REFUSE!"_

_**Have we not given you what you wanted?!**_

_"NOT AT THE COST OF ALL THOSE INNOCENT LIVES! YOU USED ME TO-"_

_**The city needed to be destroyed.** _

Even in memory, the sound of that flat voice still caused Barricade to shudder. Nor had the image of Megatron had faded with time…the great Decepticon Lord, weeping like a sparkling on his knees…

_"Primus…I'm sorry…I didn't…it wasn't me! Damn you, you made me do this! You made me kill…ARRGGGHHHH!!" This had been too much for Barricade, and he turned tailpipe, running as fast and as far away as he could. _

"Waswasgettingtimeoffagoodidea?"

"At the time, it Pit was." Barricade rumbled. "Gave me a chance to think things over as well."

_Laying low at Kaon had given the younger Decepticon time to process what he had seen and also to start searching for information. There had been an old rumor amongst the Decepticons that at the beginning of the Great War, something had happened to a team being lead by Megatron in the Forbidden Zone. Barricade was willing to bet his spark that the rumor was true, and whatever happened had a very close relation to what he had witnessed. But first, he needed to confirm just one thing, and for that, he'd need the help of the Autobots._

"Ohh! Youtheonewhosetthatup!" Frenzy cackled. "Smartsmartsmart!"

"Not really." Barricade answered. "The security was lax; Optimus was bound to find out at some point anyway."

_Barricade's plan had been simple. Inform the Autobots of a route the Decepticons were using to transport energon to their bases, and the Decepticons were informed that the Autobots had discovered one of their energon supply lines. Both Prime and Megatron were leaders of their __teams,__ at that point the fighting had been over a new source of energon just recently discovered. And as Barricade had hoped, Prime was able to inflict several serious wounds on his brother, forcing the Decepticons to retreat…and Megatron landing in the medical bay once again. This time he was ready, sneaking in while the Decepticon Lord was in deep recharge and pulling gently away at the temp-plating that covered the most severe gash in his chest chassis. What he saw beneath Megatron's spark…had been rather unnerving._

Frenzy chittered at the display Barricade was showing on his laptop.

"Weird!" The picture was of a black ball, roughly the size of a Cybertronian's fist, with strange glyphs inscribed all over the surface. "Thisthisitit?"

"Yes."

"Fffreaky."

"You can say that again." The Saleen muttered. "Anyway, it wasn't too hard to draw a conclusion. Megatron…or at least when it came to Floatila, was being controlled by someone using that thing."

"Herehereheretoo?" Barricade considered this for a moment.

"I don't think so." He finally replied. "Whatever it was…it seemed to be based on Cybertron. Megatron leaving Cybertron might have broken the hold, but the fact still remains…whatever it is, it's still doing its programming."

* * *

Optimus sighed. Sam and Bumblebee had made tracks out of the _Ark_ shortly after Ironhide had attempted to squish the human underneath one of his massive feet…but not because of that. He only wished it had been because of that.

Chromia had returned. And upon seeing her mother, Nightfire had squeaked out her new word. Prime was certain that nothing…including Unicron…had _nothing _on an angry femme. Especially Ironhide's femme…who was just as trigger and weapons-happy as he was. The Autobot leader barely had the time to snatch the crazily-giggling Nightfire and run for it before the explosion. Now he and Nightfire were in the rec room…the door locked, of course.

"Your mother…" He murmured, gently running a hand over the clicking sparkling's head. "And your father. In this case little one, discretion is the better part of valor." Nightfire squeaked, liking the deep baritone of the Autobot leader's voice. And his spark was so warm and bright! Content in this situation, she snuggled into Prime's chest chassis, seeking the sound of his pump. It wasn't as good as her father's or her mother's, but it would do for now. Optimus felt his spark ache, memories of Bumblebee when he was newly sparked flooding back into his processor.

"You know…" He rumbled gently. It couldn't hurt, could it? Nightfire was just a sparkling, if anything the drone of his voice would lull her into a recharge. And…Optimus didn't know who else he could talk to…who would understand. At least with Nightfire, she wouldn't judge him…and it would count for getting things off his chest. So preoccupied was he with his thoughts that he didn't notice the recreation room door-now unlocked- open and close. "I had…well, still have, a sparkling too, you know. And you know him very well." Nightfire clicked in response, looking up at the Autobot leader with bright optics. "Yes you do. Bumblebee is my sparkling." At the familiar name Nightfire squeaked with delight, and Optimus smiled. Shifting position, he leaned back into the couch, allowing the dark-blue bundle of wires to curl up even more into him.

"I made him a long time ago." He murmured. "I didn't know…if I'd be allowed to even create a sparkling, didn't know if I could use the power, but the Matrix let me. I created him, and I've loved him ever since…he's my baby brother." Nightfire looked up at him, blinking her optics. "It was hard having to pass him off though…I told your father and the others that I'd found him outside Iacon. But really, did it matter? He represented hope for us back then, just as you represent hope for us now." Absentmindedly he started to rub Nightfire's back. "All that mattered was that he was online, and that we weren't lonely…I wasn't lonely. I didn't even tell Elita and she is my sparkmate." Optimus fell silent, shuttering his optics against the pain and guilt that threatened to overload his spark. So many mistakes he'd made…how had Elita chosen to stay with him? How had he somehow managed to make sure Bumblebee had matured into the responsible and steady 'bot that he was today…despite all that had happened?

"It was my fault." He whispered. "But I didn't have any choice in the matter, Nightfire. I took an oath, and I must uphold it. But because of that, Bumblebee's been…" He trailed off, guilt now a living, breathing monster ripping deep into his spark. Hearing the hitch in his voice, Nightfire looked up, clicking in curiosity.

"Opti?" Prime smiled sadly, and pulled the little 'bot closer.

"It's nothing, little one." Nightfire squeaked and snuggled back into his chest chassis. Her optics drooped, soon shuttering closed as she entered recharge. Optimus looked down at the purring bundle of wires and slowly stood up, wanting to put her in the playpen…

"Optimus!" The familiar voice had the Autobot leader freezing, dread sinking into his spark. Turning his head slightly, his optics met the shocked blue ones of Ratchet, who was standing in front of the door. The CMO was staring at his old friend in shock, processor trying to understand what he had just heard.

"Optimus…you…" To this Prime had no response, staring at Ratchet as if he were Unicron himself. Fear was plainly written all over the red and blue mech's faceplates, his frame trembling from tension. Blue optics pinned Ratchet, begging him not to say it, but the yellow Autobot forced the words to come out.

"You're Bumblebee's creator?!"


	22. Sparkache

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. And Xen, you can nab the Movie Guide from any Borders or Barnes and Noble. It doesn't have the specs of every single mech (no Ironhide, I was really angry at that) but it's pretty useful. Plus I'm really honored you might want to doodle out something! I wish I could draw, my stick people have literally frightened small children.

----------------

**_Sparkache_**

The tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Clutching Nightfire tightly to him, Optimus stared at Ratchet; the question just uttered still hanging in the air.

_You're Bumblebee's creator?!_

Fear made him move, the playpen was only two steps away-put Nightfire down, she was safe, sleeping-another three steps and he was all but at Ratchet's feet.

"Ratchet, please! Don't say anything, please!"

"Don't say anything? Don't say anything?! Prime, you son of a…" Ratchet spluttered, trying to find the words. "You've been hiding something like this for all this time and you tell me not to say anything?!"

"Please!" Prime begged. "You don't understand-"

"I don't understand. I don't UNDERSTAND?" Ratchet roared. "You create a sparkling, and then you just stuff that bond away and don't even bother-you have a sparkmate and you don't tell her-you don't tell us, your _friends-_" The feel of a hand wrapping around his arm had him stopping…looking down he nearly spark-attacked, Optimus was on his knees.

"…Please…I'm begging you…" Blue optics lifted, pleading…filled with too much pain. "Don't…I'll…" Ratchet found himself unable to speak, unable to break away his own gaze. Everything his friend had hidden he could read in that look. Separation from a beloved sparkmate, forcing away a sparkbond from a creation, having to bear burdens that any normal 'bot would have already snapped under… All of this passed though Ratchet's mind, and the yellow Autobot found himself speaking.

"I won't say anything. I promise." To this a shudder was the reply, and Ratchet dropped to his own knees, embracing Prime to him in a crushing hug. "Damn it Optimus…you should have said something to me before." No response, save for another shudder.

"I…couldn't…"

"Listen." Ratchet murmured, pulling back and standing up. "You need to recharge. Speak to me when you've had several cycles' worth of rest." Reaching into a side compartment, he pulled out a injector and pushed aside a panel on Optimus's left arm, pressing down on the plunger. "Here's something to help you. Now get back to your quarters, I'll speak to you later." Prime nodded, silently standing and leaving. Ratchet watched his friend leave, crossing his arms as the door closed.

"…I said I wouldn't tell, but there was nothing on me asking." He said softly, optics narrowing. There was only one other person who Prime might have opened up to…or held the same suspicions.

---------

"What the-hey!" Ironhide rumbled as Ratchet grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him away from Chromia. "What's the big idea?!"

"Sorry Chromia, I need your sparkmate for several breems." The CMO bit off, now all but dragging the weapons specialist away. "Ironhide, you and I need to talk _now._"

"About what, you glitch?!" The yellow Autobot didn't answer until he got to the practice room, all but shoving Ironhide in and securely locking the door behind them. "Ratchet, what the Pit…"

"What do you know about the connection between Bumblebee and Optimus?" Dead silence, and then the whine of two plasma cannons charging up to full blast. Ratchet didn't even blink an optic, crossing his arms as he looked down the business end of Ironhide's weaponry.

"I see."

"How the Pit did you find out?"

"I happened to walk into the recreation room just in time to hear him pour out his spark to your youngling." Ratchet replied acidly. "But answer my question. What do you know about the connection between him and Bumblebee?" Ironhide sighed, deactivating his cannons and looking away.

"I didn't know. I suspected in the beginning, but after Beta…" He trailed off. "Bee confirmed it for me when he told me he could sense Prime and Megatron. Then it went to Pit when Megatron sensed 'Bee. I did my own research; Prime and that fragging bastard were the only two their Creator ever bothered to make." Blue optics met their counterparts. "Is he…"

"He's fine for now; I gave him a sedative and told him he could speak to me after he'd gotten a decent recharge." Was the response. "Who else suspected?"

"Jazz came to me right after Beta. We both had a feeling you were wondering about 'Bee and Prime as well...Jetfire, and I think maybe Wheeljack." Ratchet sighed.

"And nobody decided to try and confront Prime about this?"

"I tried!" Ironhide snapped back. "But the stubborn glitch that he is, he wouldn't say anything! I don't even think Elita knew!"

"Which I suspect is another big part of his current condition." Ratchet muttered. "He didn't embrace the full creator/sparkling bond, was suffering from separation from Elita on top of that-not to mention he takes _everything_ personally- Primus!"

"Can…can something be done, Ratchet?" The medic scowled, shaking his head.

"You and I both know what he _really _needs to do, but is too afraid of. He needs to tell Bumblebee that he's his Creator." To this Ironhide was silent.

"..Slag it!" He hissed, fisting one hand and slamming it into the nearby wall.

-------

Chromia smiled.

"You need to settle down, little one." She cooed, reaching in and gently tickling Nightfire. The sparkling squealed, giggling crazily and ducking down into her pillows. Wheeljack had modified a good-sized section of their quarters into a mini-room of sorts for Nightfire, complete with a recharge berth, many soft pillows, plush toys, and a blanket. The pillows were sky blue with the blanket being the same color, providing a nice contrast with Nightfire's paintjob. "It's time for you to recharge!"

"No!" Was the squeak.

"Must I keep tickling you then?" More squeaks and giggles, the pillows starting to ripple as a little frame buried itself deep underneath them. "Oh my, I think I've lost you!"

"No!" The door _hissed_ open and closed, and Chromia turned her head.

"Ironhide, I think we-" Her voice trailed off as she saw the expression on the black mech's face. "Hide?" The weapons specialist looked up.

"Chromia." Leaving Nightfire to stick one small arm out of the pillows in an attempt to get out, the silver-blue femme rose and approached her mate, one hand reaching out to gently touch his arm.

"What's wrong?" Her spark reached out to its' other half, her pump changing its beat to pulse in time with the one that lay protected under black armor. "What happened?" To this Ironhide had no response, walking over and picking up Nightfire from her pillows. Shuttering his optics, he gently cradled the clicking sparkling close to him.

"…"

"…Ironhide? Oh!" Now Chromia found herself being pulled into her mate's embrace, Nightfire squealing with delight at the feel of her creators' sparks so close to her own. "Hide, what is it? What's wrong?"

"…I'm just glad that the both of you are here." Ironhide finally rumbled in response. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you."

"Ironhide…" Chromia pushed slightly away, her optics locking with his. "What's wrong? Tell me, please." The black mech didn't respond, save for putting Nightfire back on her recharge bed and gently pulling up the blanket over her.

"Chromia…if I told you something-" He turned around. "Would you promise to keep it between us and us alone?"

"Of course! 'Hide…" Several steps forward and Chromia wrapped her arms around her mate, pressing her face into his back. "Tell me please. I feel something is troubling your spark greatly. What good am I if I can't help you?"

"You help me just by being here." Ironhide murmured, reaching up with one hand and gently putting it on top of Chromia's own. The feel of his femme's spark being so close was intoxicating, at any other time (and had there not been a little one in the room) he would have gladly turned around and pulled Chromia even _closer_ but this time…

"It's Optimus." He began, taking Chromia's hands and turning around so that he could face her. "There's something I think you need to know."

--------

He dreamed. And in dreams, he didn't hurt, everything was as how it should have been. No war…no watching his friends suffer or die, back to when it had been him and Megatron, while they couldn't have claimed a close relationship, they had loved and respected one another as brothers and co-rulers of Cybertron…

_"__Ow__." __Megatron__ snickered from his seat, watching as the inscriber stepped away from __Optimus's__ frame. _

_"I thought the bet was to not complain, __Optimus__." He rumbled, leaning back._

_"The bet was to not scream in pain." Prime replied__ resisting the urge to flinch as the inscriber resumed his work. _

_"Forgive me, I'm trying-"_

_"It's alright." __Optimus__ said, holding up a hand. "We're sorry for coming in so late, right when you were about to close."_

_"It's fine. After all, it's not every day you have yourself and the Lord Protector coming in for something like this, I'm just honored to even be in your presences!" __Megatron__ rose from his seat, coming over to loom over his brother._

_"How many of those __you getting?"_

_"This is the last one." __Optimus__ answered, again resisting the urge to flinch as the drill dug into his faceplate. _

_"Why am I thinking you need more High-Grade in your system?"_

_"Forget it __Megatron__." The inscriber stepped back, a wide grin on his faceplates._

_"Finished, and if I may say so myself, it looks perfect on you." __Optimus__ sat up, picking up a mirror from the side and carefully examining the runes carved into his faceplates. "They will smart for an __orn__, but as the metal heals the pain will go away." The red and blue __mech__ nodded, carefully standing up and moving as his brother took his place._

_"Any chance you could write 'half-clocked' on him?" He asked jokingly. __Megatron__ shot Prime a glare as he leaned back and turned his head to the left, freeing the inscriber to start drawing the pattern on his faceplate. _

_"You like jokes, it seems."_

_"I'm not the one who came in two cycles ago with several cubes of High-Grade, started to down them and then declared 'Let's go see an inscriber!'" __Optimus__ shot back, a small smile on his __mouthplates__. This playful side of __Megatron__ was one that was rarely seen. The gray __mech__ winced as the drill started to dig in._

_"__Ow__." Blue optics met their counterparts. "That was not a scream."_

_"Not yet anyway." _

A quiet rev escaped Optimus, and one hand automatically stretched out, as if looking for someone or something. Finding the other half of the bed empty it ceased searching, fingers curling up slightly. Despite the deep recharge systems silently echoed a loss, and a pump's beat lessened by a fraction. This had been going on for many recharge cycles, and would continue to do so unless something happened or changed.

--------

One blue optic opened, and Chromia stretched as her systems suddenly came online. Curled protectively around her frame was Ironhide, the black mech was deep in his own recharge, his growls mingling with the soft purrs of Nightfire over on her own little bed. The femme rolled over, one hand reaching out to gently stroke the ridges of her mate's armor.

_"Prime's not doing so well." __Chromia__ had jerked slightly at that, looking up at her __sparkmate__. "He's missing __Elita__ something awful, and then there's something else."_

_"What?" The silver-blue femme asked. __Ironhide__ was silent for a moment, looking at __Nightfire__ before meeting __Chromia's__ optics dead-on._

_"He's got a sparkling."_

"Optimus…" Chromia murmured sadly, snuggling in even closer to Ironhide. "You idiot…" The Autobot leader was too kind, always thinking of every other mech before himself. While one of the many qualities that revered him among their faction, quite honestly, there was a limit. And in Chromia's point of view, Optimus had passed that limit _millennia _ago. Both him and Elita-One.

_The room had been dark, a small mercy to the two femmes inside. One lay curled up on a large recharge bed, the other standing just inside the doorway. No words were said, didn't need to be said, for the attention now was just fighting off that unconscious urge to reach out to their __sparkmate__, knowing if they allowed themselves to do so all they would feel was emptiness, a black hole where another spark should have been. Then the pain would arrive, all-consuming and processor-destroying, if voiced it would be just mindless screams and pleas for that spark to come back, for it not to hurt anymore, to not be cold…_

_"…This is for something far greater than us." __Chromia__ looked up slightly, __Elita__ had forced herself to assume a sitting position, turning slowly to get off the bed. "We just have to remember that. The __AllSpark__ is more important than our own desires. __Optimus__ and the others will find it, return to __Cybertron__, and then our duty will be at an end."_

_"Slag duty!" __Chromia__ hissed, her optics narrowing into blue slits. "Don't give me that, __Elita__." Her frame trembled; her spark was screaming for __Ironhide's__ own, it was taking everything the femme had and then some to not collapse down into a ball and wail like a sparkling. "You didn't want him to leave just like the rest of us!"_

_"I pale in comparison to __Optimus's__ duty." __Elita__ had whispered sadly, her optics unable to meet her friend's faceplate. __"Just as he pales in comparison to my duty.__ When it is all finished, then we can have what we desire." She put one hand to her chest, directly over her spark. "To ask for any more would be treason against our vows and our cause." __Chromia__ bit back her retort and fled, the bitter __words that had leapt to her processor would have damaged her relationship with the pink femme forever. But she hadn't been quick enough; the quiet sounds of weeping followed her into the hallway._

Chromia burrowed deeper into Ironhide, not wanting to remember the pain. In response the black mech growled lightly and wrapped both arms around her, pulling her even closer. Feeling secure, the femme slowly shuttered her optics, the subroutines for recharge coming back online.

_Primus…please let __Elita__ come soon. Or if anything, give __Optimus__ a sign that everything will be alright. Hasn't he suffered enough?_

_---------------_

AN: The humor returns next chapter. What happens when you combine Frenzy, four large cups of the most powerful caffinated beverage that Starbucks has to offer (the four-shot expresso I believe), a box, a sedative, and the duo of Sam and Bumblebee? Also, the bit between Megatron and Prime, based on an observation I saw on Livejournal. (In the movie, they both have runes that look like the glyphs from the AllSpark on their faceplates) You have to wonder, are those like the Cybertronian version of tattoos?


	23. Sideways

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity, and Landray Depth Charge for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. And in answer to all the questions, yes Elita is incoming, given the way the story is looking right now, she'll be arriving in another two chapters, and that's when the fun _really _starts.

I did some Google searching on Starbucks, and apparently the ristretto expresso shot coffee is so rare that not many people who work at Starbucks actually know what it is. So in this case, think of it as maybe the 7-shot expresso drink. ;) Also, as usual, words in bold and italics are Cybertronian.

* * *

_**Sideways**_

The plan was crazy. Certifiable. If his caretakers found out what he was doing he'd get his aft handed to him on a silver platter. He shouldn't have even listened to Sam in the first place.

_But it sounds like a good idea…_ Frenzy and Barricade were partners; logically the Saleen would have shared information with the silver hacker. And they weren't hurting anyone…unless you counted torturing Frenzy with Starbucks coffee as 'torture'.

"Here we go." Sam hurried into the driver's seat, closing the door. "Four venti espresso shot coffees…" He took a peek at the backseat. "One hopefully bullet and ninja-star proof box, some chain, rope, and the world's largest bottle of liquid Valium."

"This had better work, Sam."

"I'm sure it will! Now all we have to do is find them and lure the skittering bugger out."

* * *

Currently the skittering bugger was sans his partner in the Nevada desert, using said hacker skills on a military computer. Parked just outside the office was Thundercracker, the blue and black F-18 Superhornet shifted nervously on its wheels.

"Do you mind hurrying it up? I'm kinda out of place here!"

"Cccchilloutandwait, flybot!" The hacker hissed.

"I don't know why you're looking for any possible landings in the human computers! If anything the Autobot computers on the Ark would have that information!"

"Needneedneedtocoverallbases!" Frenzy hissed, quickly uploading a special 'surprise' into the base mainframe. "Donedone!"

"Finally!" Thundercracker opened up his hatch, allowing the small 'bot to scramble in. "Next time, Barricade is doing this with you."

"Justflyflyyoufool!" The Seeker winced as little claws started to attack his control panels.

"Alright, I'm going! I'm going!"

* * *

The door to Optimus's quarters opened, and Ratchet stuck his head inside, optics narrowing as he looked at his still-recharging friend. Sighing, he stepped back as the metal closed, shaking his head.

"Any change?" The CMO looked up to see Jazz coming towards him.

"Not really. And if he didn't need this extra recharge time I'd wake him up, but…" He trailed off.

"Would him spilling…the you-know-what help any?" Ratchet shot a weary glare at the silver mech, who shrugged sheepishly.

"Not now. He needs Elita first." The Special Ops officer sagged.

"Slag." He muttered.

"Give him another two cycles, and then wake him up." Ratchet ordered, starting to walk away.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Wheeljack said he was finally able to I.D. the recipient of our last transmission. It's Jetfire, and if I'm remembering things correctly he was one of the last 'bots to have any type of communication with Elita's team."

"You can get in contact with him now?!"

"I can sure as Pit try." Ratchet answered. "Pray to Primus he can help us with this situation. And that we can get Optimus to hold on a little while longer." Jazz shook his head, blowing out air though his vents as the CMO exited the hallway, his optics turning to Optimus's door.

"Come on, Prime…" He murmured. "You just got to hold out a little more…you got a youngling to think of. And if you die now, you'll kill Elita…"

* * *

"I've got it up and running Ratchet, but I can't promise that it'll last for long." Wheeljack said, stepping back from the center console. "We really need our own satellite up there; it would make communications much easier."

"That's on the list, Wheeljack." Ratchet muttered. "_**Ratchet to Jetfire, come in**_." Static. "_**Jetfire, respond**_."

_**Ratchet!** _The monitor fizzled, the static clearing up to reveal the features of Jetfire's faceplates. _**It is good to see you again!**_

"**_It's good to see you too, friend._**" Ratchet answered, a smile breaking out on his mouthplates.

**_Tell __Optimus__ I've managed to pick up some others as well!_**

_**Ratchet!**_

_**Ratchet!**_

"**_Silverbolt and Skydive!_**" Primus, this was good news for them. "**_It's good seeing you! But where are the rest of the Aerialbots?_**"

_**We'll explain when we land!** _

"**_Right. I need to speak to Jetfire before this gives out._**"

_**No problem!**_

"I'm going to go see Perceptor about Teletran-II. Call me if there's a problem." Wheeljack said, exiting the room. Ratchet nodded, turning his attention back to the screen as Jetfire reappeared.

_**What is it?**_

"_**When was the last time you had any sort of communication with Elita-One?**_" The scientist blinked.

_**Elita?**__** Primus, that was**…_ Silence as Jetfire put two and two together. _**Optimus?!**_

"_**Not good. And Ironhide informed me that you were also aware of a…certain situation regarding him and another member of our team**_." Ratchet replied, carefully watching the other Autobot.

_…**Confirmed?**_

"_**Yes, but nothing's been done. He's too afraid**_." A curse from Jetfire.

_**How bad?** _The CMO was silent at this, trying to carefully phrase his words.

"…**_Bad_**." He finally answered. "_**Looking at the situation now, this had been happening for a long time. I know you were one of the last 'bots to have gotten in touch with Elita's team, so please, anything that you know…**_" A long silence, and then a heavy sigh from Jetfire.

_**I'm afraid you're not going to like what I'm going to have to say then.** _

_Several millennia prior he had finally met up with what had remained of __Elita__-One's team of femmes. __Uppermost on his mind was the safety of the pink femme, __Jetfire__ knowing that if anything had happened to her, despite the distance it would be reflected on __Optimus__. Despite not having seen her for a very long time, the scientist hoped that everything was well…but it wasn't._

_"Gone? What…what do you mean, she's gone?!" __Moonracer__ slowly nodded her optics on the ground._

_"It was those __fraggin__ 'Cons." __Firestar__ said, h__er voice betraying no emotion. "We got split up." __Jetfire__ simply stared at the two of them. __"First Chromia…and now __Elita...__Primus __help__ us if they're dead."_

Ratchet felt like he'd been hit with a wrecking ball. On the screen Jetfire looked worriedly back at him.

"…_**They didn't have any idea where she could have gone**_?"

**_No. And every opportunity I got, I went looking myself. When __Optimus's_**_** transmission reached me, I was relieved to find out he was still alive.** _Ratchet nodded, bowing his head.

"_**He's still alive**_." _For now._"_**Which means Elita is still functioning as well**_." The moniter feed started to fizzle. "Frag it!"

_**I'll get back in contact with you later.** _Jetfire said, able to get the words out right as the screen went dead. The yellow Autobot didn't say anything, but shuttered his optics as he gently placed his foreplate right on the screen.

"...Primus…"

* * *

"Maybe we should give up for now." Sam grumbled, slinking back into his seat. Four hours of driving, and no sign of a certain black-and-white police car. "We've been all over the stupid city."

"Let's try here one more time." Bumblebee answered, pulling into the abandoned parking garage where Swindle and Barricade had stayed. "There's always a chance that-" The sound of engines had him slamming on his brakes and giving Sam a heart attack.

"What the hell is that?! Whoa!" Always quick to react, Bumblebee did a 180 and backed up into a wall, just as the jets got closer.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" A loud screech, and Sam and Bumblebee watched as Frenzy landed very ungracefully at the entrance to the garage. Vile curses in English and Cybertronian were heard, and the duo watched in amazement as the silver 'bot extended all four 'hands' with one certain digit extended as the jets thundered and then faded away.

"Whoa." Sam said.

"Get out and set the stuff up!" Bumblebee hissed, shaking on his tires.

"Okay okay! I'm going!"

* * *

Frenzy hissed as he entered the parking garage. Stupid Seeker, sending him out in midair like that! Oh, when he got access to a computer, he'd create a special little present for Thundercracker. Cackling evilly, he scurried out of the sun…

And found a Starbucks coffee cup in his path. The silver 'bot stopped cold, his sensors picking up on the heavenly aroma of a venti ristretto espresso coffee.

"coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee!" All plans for conquest and revenge forgotten, Frenzy squealed and eagerly attacked the cup. His systems sang in approval of the fine java that it was consuming, but all too soon it was at an end. The skittering hacker cursed and threw the cup to the side.

"Coffee! Wantmoremoremore!" As he started to make his way forward again, his optics saw yet another venti cup. "Yesyesyes!"

* * *

It was taking everything in Sam's power to not fall down laughing. He had set up three of the coffee cups at 50 yard intervals, with the last cup right underneath the specially-created box, which was hanging from the ceiling by a rope.

"Are you kidding me?" He hissed with delight. "I can't believe this! Crack! He's a friggin crack addict!" Bumblebee couldn't help himself; he was laughing as well…and recording to show the others, the entertainment value alone would probably get him out of trouble.

"Maybe we could get him to Ratchet for a medical study!" He suggested, yellow shoulders quaking with suppressed chuckles.

"Ssssh! He's on the third one!" Bumblebee immediately moved into action, letting Sam jump into an outstretched hand and activating his holographic disguise. In return Sam kept a firm grip on the other end of the rope, the minute Frenzy picked up the last coffee cup he would let go, the box would come crashing down, and then they would have one…extremely crazy 'bot on their hands.

"Here he comes!"

* * *

He was in heaven. There was no other reason to explain it. Now well and truly buzzed, Frenzy staggered towards the fourth venti Starbucks cup, feeling pleasantly mellow. So mellow in fact, that he didn't notice the obvious box and rope dangling from the ceiling…or the fact that the rope seemed to be held by invisible hands. No, all his attention was on that fourth cup. Lurching, he made his way to his personal holy grail and plopped down, reverently picking up the cup and lifting it to his mandibles. Going for the gusto, he started to professionally chug the liquid. But in doing so, he just happened to notice…

"Now Sam!"

The box that was now apparently heading for him. Having drained the cup dry (and also the drug kicking in) all the silver hacker could do was watch as the cube plummeted towards his head.

"Oh oh."

The sound of the box crashing muffled the even smaller sound of Frenzy collapsing in a drugged heap.

* * *

AN: I realize this chapter is short, and if it sounds disjointed I do apoglize, some issues at work have popped up for me, not to mention this and the next chapter are going to be pretty hard to write. I beg your pardons in advance.


	24. Distraction

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and Landray Depth Charge for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. And as per the norm for this fic, all words in Cybertronian are in bold and italics.

* * *

**_Distraction_**

"diediediedieDIEDIE!" Sam rolled his eyes as Frenzy hurled himself against the box again, cursing in both Cybertronian and English. The silver hacker hadn't stayed offline for long, and Bumblebee had already made the mental note to tell Ratchet that apparently the human coffee could override his strongest sedative.

"Look, we're not going to hurt you." Sam began again, and then jumped back as the sound of gunfire was heard. "Hey!"

"Listen!" Bumblebee snapped, slamming down one hand on the box. Frenzy jumped, and then spewed out a string of gibberish at the spy. "We know Barricade told you about what happened at Floatila. We're not going to hurt you, just tell us what he told you and then we'll let you go!"

"SSSCREWYOU!"

"Alright, you see this?" Sam said, holding up a Starbucks cup. Frenzy immediately fell silent, blue optics trained on the paper. "If you don't tell us what we want to know, we'll get rid of all of this."

"Nononono!"

"Yes! See?" To prove his point, Sam removed the lid and started to pour the liquid into a trashcan. This only got Frenzy even angrier, and he shook all four hands at the human.

"Killkillkill! Wastegoodgoodcoffee!"

"We wouldn't be wasting it if you would only tell us what we need to know." Then a pair of brown eyes and blue optics widened as Frenzy hurled the most profane Earth curses he knew, one including a word that began with an 'f' and another word that had both the letters 'm' and 'f' included. "Holy hell!"

"I think he's had entirely too much Internet for his own good." Bumblebee remarked.

"Apparently."

* * *

Nightfire squeaked, looking up at Ratchet.

"No no, pay attention." The CMO ordered, tapping on the viewscreen. Nightfire turned her head back to the monitor, sticking one hand into her mouthplate as she assimilated the information being displayed on it.

"Puter." She stated, pointing at the console.

"_Com_-puter." Ratchet answered. "Very good." Nightfire looked around.

"Book." One little finger pointed at a small stack of Sam and Mikaela's textbooks.

"Good!" Ratchet praised. Nightfire squeaked and pointed at herself.

"Fire."

"Yes, you are Nightfire." The yellow 'bot responded. The sparkling frowned, one little hand banging against Ratchet's chest chassis.

"Hide." Another series of hits. "Hide."

"Ironhide's spark?" Nightfire looked up into Ratchet's optics again.

"Sp…spk. Spk!"

_She's caught on rather quickly when it comes to spark-bonds. _Ratchet thought to himself. Reaching over, he started to bring up another program for Nightfire, pausing only to send strong feelings of praise over his spark-link to Nightfire. The tiny bot squealed in delight, sprawling out all over the yellow mech's lap and clicking crazily.

"Spk!"

"Another couple of lessons and I think we might have you talking a bit better." Ratchet answered. _**Now, what is this?** _He brought up another picture on the viewscreen.

_**Fox!**_

_**Turbo-fox.**__**Very good**. _Nightfire considered the next picture.

_**Cube!**_

"Cube, very good." Ratchet murmured, looking at the picture of the AllSpark that was slowly rotating on the screen. The shard that had been left of the once-great artifact was secured safely on the Ark, having been used only once…to bring back Jazz from the Matrix. "That's a story that you'll know when you get older, little one."

"Story!" Nightfire squeaked.

"No, not now. We need to finish this download first."

"No!" To this, Ratchet's response was to grip Nightfire by her scruff-bar. Temper tantrum cut off before it could even begin, the sparkling looked up at Ratchet with moist optics.

"No fits." The CMO said, waving a finger.

"Fit." Nightfire repeated.

* * *

Barricade resisted the urge to reach out and choke Thundercracker.

"You threw him out of your cockpit?"

"The little skittering bootleg tried to _hack_ me!" The Seeker protested.

"That's his way of showing affection!" The black-and-white snarled in reply. Thundercracker gave the mech a look that clearly suggested Barricade had lost his CPU.

"Affection." He stated. "He shows affection by trying to hack CPUs." Barricade didn't say anything, trying to raise Frenzy though a comm-link.

"…Are you sure you threw him at the parking garage?" He asked.

"Yes, why?" Thundercracker responded.

"I can't get him."

"Maybe he turned off his communicator."

"Maybe." Was the reply as Barricade shuddered into his alt mode. "Let's go find him." Grumbling under his breath, Thundercracker leapt into the air, gears grinding as he morphed into his F-18 mode.

* * *

"Iwillkillyouripoutyoursparkanddanceonyourframe-"

"This is so not working." Sam commented. "Bee, I'm sorry."

"It's okay! If anything, we at least found a weakness." The yellow Autobot replied, dangling another Starbucks coffee cup in front of the hacker. Frenzy went silent, optics watching the paper as Bumblebee moved it back and forth. "See?"

"givegivegive!"

"Crack addict." The human muttered, toeing the box. "Let's just drop him off someplace and-"

"WITWICKY!" The roar had both Sam and Bumblebee looking up, at the far end of the room was one _very _fragged-off Barricade. "I WILL KILL YOU AND THE AUTOBOT FOR THIS!"

"Run 'Bee!" Sam yelled. The yellow Autobot didn't hesitate, firing off one round at the Decepticon before quickly transforming back into his alternate form, letting his friend scramble in before tearing towards the lower level. Barricade didn't give chase immediately, hurrying over to the box in which Frenzy was being held captive in. Outside, a roar from Thundercracker as he saw the fleeing Autobot, several shots were fired and then silence.

"Killkillkill-"

"How in the Pit did they capture you?!" Barricade snarled, opening up the box and dangling Frenzy by the foot. The hacker shut up at the question, optics glancing to the side and then down. This was enough for Barricade to see the Starbucks cups that littered the ground, rope, and the now-empty vial of sedative. It didn't take the black and white too long to put two and two together, and he resisted the urge to yell.

Almost.

"YOU LET THEM TRICK YOU WITH COFFEE?!"

"Butitwastheonewiththeexpressoshots!Starbucksgoodgoodgood!"

"YOU LET YOURSELF GET CAPTURED FOR COFFEE?!"

"…Frenzyissorry?"

* * *

Bumblebee pulled to a stop by a bookstore.

"Go call for help." He said, opening the door to allow Sam to scramble out. "I'll get them out of the city." Sam nodded, running inside just in time as the sound of jet engines were heard overhead. In response Bumblebee slammed the door shut, gunning his motor and speeding towards the nearest highway entrance. Overhead, Thundercracker executed a flawless horizontal 360, locking on the yellow spy.

_I see you're doing rather well! _He taunted.

_Wish I could say the same for you! _Bumblebee shot back, smoke coming from his tires as he upped his speed, heading for the first exit.

_Why don't you just stop and surrender right now? You know you're useless against me!_

_Go __frag__ yourself!_ Good, there was desert surrounding him. Bumblebee roared off the road, heading for a nearby canyon where he could transform and hold off Thundercracker until help arrived. Above him, he could hear Thundercracker already changing.

"Come out and die, Autobot!" Bumblebee was quick to shift back into his original form, right hand morphing into his cannon.

"You first!" He yelled, rolling out of the safety of the canyon and locking onto the Seeker. "In fact, tell Starscream I said hello!"

* * *

Sirens screamed as a black-and-white Charger barreled down the streets of Tranquility, right behind it was a red and blue Peterbuilt truck. Not too far behind the duo was a pair of Lamborghinis, one red, one yellow.

_Fraggin__ Seeker! _Sunstreaker texted.

_I've got a fix on Bumblebee's location. _Prowl responded. _Sideswipe and __Sunstreaker__, you're the fastest. Get out there first! _There was no response save for the roaring of engines, the Twins tearing onto a side-street and heading for the outskirts of town, hitting their maximum speeds and then some. _Optimus?_

_I'm fine. _Not true, all the Autobot leader could feel deep down in his spark was sheer twisting terror. Bumblebee was no good against fliers, and Thundercracker was regarded as one of the best among the Decepticon ranks. _I'm fine._

_Maybe you should have-_

_**NO**! _The roar had Prowl slamming on his brakes, the force behind the bellow momentarily stunning him. The Peterbuilt did likewise.

_Prowl?__ Prowl! I'm sorry, I didn't mean-_

_I'm fine. Just a bit startled. _The Charger was quick to respond. Thankfully they'd been in a deserted part of town; nobody was around to hear the red and blue truck suddenly yelling. As if nothing had happened, the black and white resumed its course. Guilt ripped afresh into Optimus, having no choice he followed behind. Prowl was only worried about him, he shouldn't have frizted out like that…but the screaming transmission from Sideswipe wiped out any future thoughts from his processor.

_PRIME! HELP, IT'S SHOCKWAVE!_

* * *

He hadn't known what had hit him. One minute he was performing every evasive tactic he knew to keep from getting deactivated by Thundercracker, and then all of a sudden, the Seeker had stopped, staring up into the sky.

_The sky had suddenly gone dark, the sun being blotted out by a large massive shape. Bumblebee had looked up, and right over his and __Thundercracker's__ heads was a sphere, fire licking around it as it plummeted down to Earth. He'd barely had enough time to duck behind several large boulders for cover before the screaming begin, the sound of a thousand nails running across a thousand chalkboards…_

And then what had come out of the sphere…not a transition mode, but a sphere…what had come out…

_A massive purple frame, almost as tall as __Optimus__ No faceplates save for one big yellow optic…a gun where the right hand should have been, and a horribly familiar bearing…Bumblebee barely had any time to stare, as he watched the newcomer lifted that right arm, aiming at __Thundercracker__-speaking in that horrible monotone._

_"You are no longer needed." __Thundercracker__ couldn't even react fast enough, the blast hit him point-blank in his chest chassis, as he fell over the yellow __Autobot__ couldn't tell if he was even alive or dead. Then Bumblebee found out he needed to worry about himself more than the __Decepticon__, for that yellow optic had turned to him, locking on…_

Sunstreaker and Sidewipe had shown up just in the nick of time. Both transforming, they threw themselves at the purple mech, Sideswipe able to get out a message for help just as they engaged. But both warriors soon found themselves on the losing end. Sunstreaker found himself flying back into the canyon, and Sideswipe howled in agony as his right arm was ripped off at the joint where it connected to his shoulder. He was sent backwards as well, and all thoughts of battle flew from Sunstreaker's processor as he hurried over to his brother.

"Sideswipe!" The red mech groaned in agony, sparks flying as he struggled to get up. "Blast you to the Pit, why did you _do _that?!"

"Sunny, watch out!" The warning was too late, and Sunstreaker roared in pain as he was sent flying to the side via a blow from Shockwave. "No! You Unicron-spawn bastard, leave him alone!" Shockwave seemed to pause at this, his optic turning back to the red 'bot.

"You are unnecessary." He said, aiming his gun point blank at Sideswipe's processor. The red mech tensed, waiting for the blast but it never happened.

"Get away from them!" Bumblebee yelled, peppering the purple Decepticon with blasts from his cannon. "You want somebody to pick on, pick on me!" Shockwave slowly turned around, retargeting the yellow spy. One shot to Bumblebee's right leg had him falling down, struggling to move as his attacker slowly approached him.

"It was hoped that you would be necessary."

"What?!"

"But you have now been deemed the opposite. Farewell."

"No, Bumblebee!" Sideswipe screamed, watching Shockwave fire once more. The yellow spy braced himself, waiting for the killing blow…but it never happened. Unshuttering his optics, he looked up to see a massive red and blue form in front of him, one arm having taken the full brunt of the blow.

"Optimus!"


	25. Devastation

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas.

* * *

_**Devastation**_

Optimus carefully lowered his right arm, the plasma hole from Shockwave's blast still slizzing slightly. Fortunately his armor had stood up rather well, the red and blue mech deactivated several pain sensors around the spot so that he could continue fighting.

"Bumblebee." He rumbled. "Are you still functional?" The yellow spy nodded.

"Yes sir."

"Go help Sideswipe." Un-subspacing his own gun, he pointed it at the purple Decepticon. "Shockwave. What are you doing here?"

"Optimus Prime." The mech responded. "It seems living on this organic planet has agreed with you and your team of Autobots."

"I don't want to fight, Shockwave." Optimus warned, watching out of the corner of one optic as Bumblebee limped over to Sideswipe. Just beyond them was the prone figure of Thundercracker, who was still unmoving. "Whatever it is you want, let us speak of it peacefully. This planet has nothing to do with our grievances."

"I have only come to confirm several things."

"Hmph, a likely story!" Prowl said, coming up alongside the Autobot leader. "Since when does 'confirming several things' involve plasma fire?"

"I had hoped to confirm what would be necessary and what was unnecessary." Shockwave answered.

"Necessary and unnecessary?" Optimus repeated. "For what purpose?"

"For Cybertron." Both Optimus and Prowl jolted in surprise.

"Cybertron?"

* * *

"Here, I'll take her." First Aid said, taking the wriggling and squirming Nightfire from Chromia's arms. "You two get going! Prime's going to need all the help he can get." Nightfire squeaked in anger, trying in vain to get back to her mother's arms as Chromia shifted into her alternate mode.

"Bluestreak, get Prime's trailer ready." Ironhide ordered, shuddering into his Topkick form. _Ratchet, get your aft up here. _Sirens blasted, the yellow Hummer appearing next to the black truck.

_I'm ready._

"Bumblebee managed to get them a good several miles outside the city." Hound reported. "We're alerting the local human authorities but you need to try and settle things as fast as you can."

_Get the bay ready, First Aid. _Ratchet texted. The Protectorbot nodded, watching as the group sped out of the Ark.

"I'll go get the extra supplies we do have." Wheeljack said. "I got a bad feeling we're going to need them."

"What do we do about Nightfire?" Perceptor asked, taking the angry sparkling. Nightfire hissed in rage, little hands curling into fists and slamming them into the scientist's chest chassis.

"You and Hound want to take her to the bunker?" The yellow and white Autobot considered this, and then shook his head.

"We'll stay in the rec room. If anything happens, just hit the alarm and we'll make tracks for the bunker. Sssh, little one…" Nightfire did not take the endearment well, dragging in a deep breath though her vents before issuing a high-pitched scream.

"Gah! Here, let me have her!" Nightfire only howled louder as she was passed over to Bluestreak. The blue Autobot was quick to grip the baby 'bot by the scruff-bar, a series of clicks and squeaks coming from his own voice capacitor. In reply Nightfire looked up at the mech, her optics moist and trickling tears as she chirped sadly.

"It'll be alright." Bluestreak soothed as he cradled the sparkling close. "Chromia and Ironhide will be back soon, you'll see." The little femme curled up as close as she could to Bluestreak's pump, sticking her little fingers in her mouthplate. "Everything will be just fine."

* * *

"What does Cybertron have to do with your actions?" Optimus asked, carefully walking to the side so that he could keep his frame between Shockwave and Bumblebee.

"Everything. It is our home world after all, Optimus. Does it not fall on us to try to repair the damage that was done to it?"

"Why do you think we left to search for the AllSpark?!" Sunstreaker hissed from his spot next to his twin. "The damage that you glitching bastards did to our planet, it fell on _**our**_ shoulders to try and fix!"

"The Decepticons weren't the only ones who hurt Cybertron, Autobot, and your very words are a perfect example of how single-minded your faction is." Shockwave answered.

"Single-minded?!"

"Sunstreaker!" Optimus barked.

"Both Autobots and Decepticons share the same weight of the blame on what we did to our home." Prowl said. "But unlike the Decepticons, we at least _confessed_-no, we** _knew_** what we had done, and were trying to _**fix**_ it!"

"You have a point there." Shockwave admitted. "Just as you had one in sending the AllSpark off-planet and away from Megatron. Clever, though one debates that if that victory was worth the suffering that followed."

"Were you responsible for attacking Mirage?" Optimus asked.

"He was an intruder." The Autobot leader's optics widened at the heartless tone. "He threatened to destroy the balance."

"Balance?" Prowl asked, a puzzled look on his faceplates. "What sort of balance?" Then he moved closer to Optimus as Shockwave advanced slowly, and then stopped.

_Prime, I don't like this…_

"I notice that not many Decepticons have come here…that the majority of our kind have been Autobots." Shockwave said, his one optic trained on the red and blue mech. "Logic would assume…knowing Starscream's tendencies, that considerably more Decepticons would have arrived on this planet by now."

"Were you responsible for Starscream's death?!" Prowl shot out suddenly.

_Prowl!_ Prime texted. Shockwave tilted his head.

"Starscream is dead? How random…and yet, such the distinct possibility."

"His wounds mirrored the ones you gave Mirage!" The black-and-white shot back.

"I assure you Autobot, and it is up to you whether you wish to believe me or not, I was not responsible for Starscream's apparent demise. As Megatron's second-in-command and with his traitorous tendencies well-known, he had many enemies. However, I do find it hard to believe that every single injury he was given mirrored what I did to your comrade."

"No." Optimus admitted. If they could get answers to some of the many questions they had in this manner, so be it. "What would have been the killing blow…was his spark being ripped out of his chest." Shockwave paused to consider this new information.

"Disturbing." He finally pronounced. "That is certainly not my method of deactivation, and all of us are very familiar with the only one that did do such a thing. However, then there is a problem with that train of logic. Said mech that was known for performing such acts…has been dead for a _vorn._"

* * *

From his vantage point in the canyon, Barricade considered the situation below him. He and Frenzy had arrived late to the scene, the black-and-white mech choosing to hide in an overhang of rocks and watch what was going on.

"Heheheknowsmorethanhe'slettingonon!" Frenzy hissed from his perch on Barricade's shoulder.

"I know." The black-and-white answered.

"Thinkthinkhekilledbitchbitchbitch?"

"As much as I would like to point a finger at him, he's right. The M.O. of ripping sparks out wasn't his, it was Megatron. But then again, he's been dead for a vorn. Nor does it fit with any of the others who hated Starscream."

"Soifhehedidn'tdoitandtheydidn'tdoitdoit,whodiddid?"

"That's what I'd like to find out." Barricade muttered. "Thundercracker?"

"Flybotfinefine. Stasislocklock. WillnotbefinefineifShockwaveseesees."

"I know."

* * *

Sideswipe bit back a cry of pain as Sunstreaker finished tying off the broken Energon lines at his right shoulder.

_You better fraggin hang on, you hear me you son of a glitch?! _Sunstreaker transmitted to his brother. _You better not die on me, if you even try I'll kick your aft, you hear?!_

_Guh…Sunny…your bedside manner…needs improvement…_

_Frag that!_

"Just what are you up to, Shockwave?" Optimus demanded.

"I only wish to help Cybertron heal, to rebuild our world to what it once was. Logic dictates for that to happen, it is necessary to have homes, places of businesses, and such other things, correct?"

"Yes…" Prime said warily, not sure of where this was going.

"And to make sure things can resume the proper order, is it not necessary to have inhabitants for those homes, to run businesses, is that not correct?"

"What's your point, logic-center?!" Sunstreaker snapped.

"My point is, to help our world thrive once more; do we not need little ones?" Every Autobot present felt his spark freeze at those words, processors coming up with only one thought.

_Bumblebee. _But then on the heels of that…

_Nightfire! _Prowl was the first to recover, stepping forward and pointing his blasters at the purple Decepticon.

"What are you getting at?!" An attitude that could loosely be defined as a smirk seemed to radiate off the Decepticon.

"No one was aware of this, but…there were survivors of Floatila."

* * *

Barricade and Frenzy almost fell down together.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

The Autobots stared at Shockwave, trying to process what they had just heard.

"…What?" Sideswipe finally whispered. "But nobody…nobody…"

"Oh yes, there were survivors." Shockwave said. "However, it does appear that I have exceeded the time I permitted myself to speak to you." He brought up his gun arm again. "I am on a tight schedule."

"Bumblebee, help get Sideswipe out of here!" Optimus roared, charging up his own weapon.

* * *

_How much further?!_ Chromia texted. _Shockwave could have killed them by now!_

_Not too much more. _Ratchet replied, his own spark twisting with fear. Chromia was right; they could be too late already.

_Can't get in touch with them. _Ironhide replied. Then all of a sudden, he slammed on his brakes as something tore past him. _What the Pit?! _Then he really had to bite back on a roar of pain as Chromia slammed into his rear bumper, and Ratchet likewise with _her_ rear bumper.

_Ow!_

_Ironhide, Pit blast you! What do you think you're doing?! _

_What in the name of Primus was that?!_ The Topkick transmitted. Backing up, Chromia sent out her own sensor grid.

_…I don't know what is it, but it's heading for Prime and the others!_

* * *

Optimus groaned as he tried to get up from where he had fallen. His team had barely any time to defend themselves, after firing off several blasts from his gun arm Shockwave had transformed into his Cybertronian alt mode, a large plasma cannon. Prowl and Sunstreaker had immediately been taken out with the first blast, as Shockwave had shifted back to his original mode Bumblebee had tried to attack but failed, being tossed around like a piece of scrap metal and sent hurling backwards into the canyon wall, another blast had sent Sideswipe straight into stasis lock, and then it was only Optimus against the ruthless Decepticon. In a normal situation, the end result would have been the Autobot leader handing the purple mech a very sound beating, as Prime was considered one of the most powerful and devastating warriors on Cybertron.

But this wasn't a normal situation. The stress and strain of the past vorn, coupled with the spark-wrenching pain of missing his mate, mixed with not accepting the bond between him and his sparkling/little brother, the depression that the Autobot leader had been in recently, the overwork…it was catching up with Optimus. As a result, he was off-balance…and it allowed Shockwave to capitalize.

_**Violently.**_

"I find myself disappointed, Optimus." Energon pouring from his wounds, the red and blue mech struggled to get up but found himself being forced back down as Shockwave put one foot on his chest. "Your considerable age must have slowed your reflexes." Grunting with pain, Optimus forced his arms up and around Shockwave's leg, pulling with all his might. The Decepticon scientist went down, with Optimus pressing his advantage by firing off every single round from his gun at the purple mech.

_I have to…hang on…until the others arrive!_ This thought was wiped from his mind however, as the sudden gear-grinding of a transformation was his only warning before Shockwave fired another deadly plasma blast…hitting the Autobot leader dead-center in his chest chassis.

"Arrggghhhh!" Pain sensors going off the chart as armor started to melt away, eating into his wiring and melting away the metal inside-a hole appearing in his pump, exposing his spark-then more alarms, the radiation from the shard of metal was starting to go past unsafe levels- Optimus struggled to draw in air though his vents, cooling systems starting to kick into overtime in an effort to try and soothe the damage... Then he all but screamed again when a purple foot slammed down on the wound, crushing his pump-box.

"I have seen the future of Cybertron, Optimus Prime, and you are not in it." Feeling his consciousness start to fade away-the Matrix already calling to his spark to come and join it-Optimus weakly looked up into the yellow optic of Shockwave, who had aimed the barrel of his gun less than one centimeter away from his foreplate. "Farewell."

But then all of a sudden, the sound of an engine roaring-gears grinding-and then an oddly familiar voice-

_**NO!**_

Shockwave had no time to react, a streak of rose slamming into him, sending him stumbling backwards-the sound of gunfire- Optimus shuddered as it suddenly became too much for him, and his optics rolled upwards into his head as the shutters closed over them.

* * *

Ratchet pulled up to the canyon, gyros twisting as he morphed into his original form.

"Optimus!"

"Oh no!" Chromia gasped as she finished assuming her form, beside her Ironhide roared with fury and launched himself at the staggering Shockwave. "We're too late!"

"Not yet we're not!" Ratchet snapped. "Go help your mate!" Chromia obeyed, launching several missiles at the Decepticon before joining Ironhide. The rose-streak suddenly split off from its attack on Shockwave, hurrying over to the badly battered form of Optimus.

"Optimus, no! Don't you dare die on me!" Having arrived several astroseconds behind the stranger, Ratchet was quick to pull Optimus's frame away from her hands-

Her hands? The CMO looked up, recognizing the color-his spark slammed against its box in shock, how was this-

"_**Elita**_?!"

* * *

AN: -ducks- If you kill me, I can't update! ;)


	26. Reunion

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas.

I updated. Plz, no more threats ;.; I be good little writer. ;)

* * *

**_Reunion_**

"Time to send you back to the Pit, Shockwave!" Ironhide roared as he unleashed everything he had at the Decepticon scientist. "Chromia, go check on the others!" The femme nodded, rushing over to the now-twitching Prowl.

"Uggghh…"

"Prowl, snap out of it." The femme-bot ordered. The black-and-white twitched, slowly sitting up.

"…Prime?"

"Badly hurt." Chromia felt her frame ease with relief, Prowl looked to be fully functional, save for the burns that marred the upper half of his body. "Can you still fight?"

"I think so…battle computer's still functional."

"I'll go check on Sunstreaker. Help Ironhide with that Pit-fraggin bastard!" Prowl nodded, lurching up abet unsteadily before un-subspacing his weapons and going to help the black mech. Chromia then moved over to the yellow Twin, helping him sit up and propping his frame against a rock overhang.

"Side…swipe?"

"He's okay." The silver-blue femme soothed. "I'm more worried about you at the moment."

* * *

Ratchet felt his spark twist with fear as he looked at the damage to Optimus's frame. Elita was kneeling with the Autobot leader's head in her lap, whispering something brokenly in Cybertronian, one hand placed protectively over the gaping hole that exposed her mate's spark to the elements.

_Radiation…I need to prevent fallout. _Opening up a side compartment in his upper left leg, the yellow Autobot was quick to remove a radiation clamp.

"Elita, move your hand." He ordered, putting the black metal band over the hole. Holding the power of the Creation Matrix, Optimus's spark had been the second most powerful thing on Cybertron, the first having been the AllSpark. To his relief, the surrounding radiation levels started to drop drastically, an indicator that he'd made it in time. The rose-armored femme looked up at the CMO.

"Ratchet…"

"I need to get him into surgery." _But blast it all to Pit, how are we supposed to get him back?! He's not going to last the trip back to the Ark!_

"Optimus!" A flash of yellow and Bumblebee was beside him, optics wide at the horror before him. "Optimus?!"

"Bumblebee, get in touch with Perceptor and Wheeljack." Ratchet ordered. _If I can staunch off all his wounds-just maybe…_ His optics fell on the small hand that was covering the radiation clamp. Elita had pulled the mangled form of her mate as close as she could, still whispering in Cybertronian. "Elita. Elita!" The small femme looked up.

"He's slipping away from me." She whispered.

"Don't let him. Make him stay with you!" Ratchet urged. _Primus, she needs to keep it together, if she slips into despair I've lost the both of them!_ "You're just as stubborn as he is,** _make_** him stay with you." Elita nodded again, pulling Optimus as close as she dared to as Ratchet started work on stopping any more Energon from leaking out of Prime's body.

_Prime, if you leave me again I'll never forgive you. _She thought. _Stay. I kept myself alive all this time because I knew I'd see you again. _Shuttering her optics, she pressed her foreplate into her mate's own. _I'm here…_

* * *

The blue light was soothing. Optimus looked around, as far as his optics could see there was nothing but blue upon blue. Familiar presences floated around his being, calling to him, this light was the Creation Matrix-it was time for him to return home… The Autobot leader felt a slight ripple of guilt, his friends…Bumblebee, he wouldn't be able to watch them settle down in their new home, Bumblebee would never know the truth of their relation…he wouldn't be able to watch Nightfire grow up…

_Elita. _He would never see her again, he wouldn't be able to tell her about Bumblebee, to ask for her forgiveness…or to even start their own family unit- _I'm sorry my love, I failed you. Please, try to hang on…_

Then another presence, one that had his spark twisting painfully, struggling to recognize it. Optimus stopped, putting one hand to his chest.

_I…know this. _Faded memories from his CPU surfaced, he'd put them in a special folder within his processor-the feel of his spark pulsing in time with another-his pump, no, his very core processes realigning, reformatting, instead of being dedicated to one individual now everything was exactly one-half of something greater. The presence grew stronger, insisting that he _stay_, ordering him not to join the Matrix. The Autobot leader shuddered slightly, the feelings getting stronger, washing though his spark.

_Maybe…I can stay here for just a little bit. _Shuttering his optics, he slowly sat down, lying back and curling up slightly. _Just…rest for a couple of breems. _

* * *

"Come back here you Pit-spawned bastard!" Ironhide roared, blasting though several plumes of smoke with cannon fire. But it was useless, Shockwave had already disappeared. "Slag it!"

"We need to help get Optimus and the others back to the Ark." Prowl ordered.

"Prowl, Ironhide, over here!" The yell from Chromia had both Autobots spinning around and rushing over to where she was. The weapons specialist jerked in surprise.

"What the Pit is-" He rumbled, aiming dead center at the offline Thundercracker.

"diediediedieAutobot!"

"GAH!" Ironhide roared as Frenzy suddenly landed on top of him, attacking with claws, guns, ninja stars…everything the skittering hacker had in his arsenal. "Where the frag is it?!"

"Get OFF him!" Chromia screamed, snatching the silver 'bot off her mate and flinging him a good couple of feet away. Frenzy landed on all fours and got back up, hissing various profanities. This resulted in Prowl and Ironhide both firing at him, the hacker screeched and threw himself to the side, jumping on top of a rock and waving all four hands with the middle digit extended at the small group.

"Ikillkillallofyou!"

"Frenzy, stop!" Barricade rumbled, appearing behind his partner.

"You again!" Prowl snarled.

"Given the current situation, it's actually more beneficial to both of our sides if we dropped hostilities for several breems." The Decepticon snarled. "You need help getting your wounded back to base, and I need my fellow warrior repaired."

"Like-"

"Prowl, no!" Ratchet said, coming up behind him. _Don't. He's not attacking, and he's right._

_Ratchet, we just can't let this Decepticon-_

_How else are we going to get Prime back to the Ark?! And Sideswipe and the others?! _A hiss of angry air escaping Prowl's vents encouraged the CMO to continue. _If helping his fellow 'Con is a small price to pay for getting ours back to base, then it's worth it! And he didn't help Shockwave, so that alone at least tells us something!_ Bumblebee came running over.

_I got in touch with Wheeljack and Perceptor!_

* * *

Somehow they pulled it off. Barricade lent his aid to Ratchet in slowly helping the wounded Autobot leader back to the Ark, Sunstreaker helping the injured Sideswipe (with the red twin carrying his severed arm), Bumblebee and Chromia supporting a somewhat-online Thundercracker, and Prowl taking up the rear guard. Elita never left Optimus's side, nor did she break physical contact with him, one small hand stroking the red and blue mech's back. A hissing Frenzy rounded out the group, having been delegated to sit on Prowl's shoulder for the trip back.

The hacker and the security officer were _not_ pleased.

* * *

First Aid met them at the door.

"Primus!"

"First Aid, get every single damn Energon transfusion you can get your hands on!" Ratchet snapped, helping put Optimus on the gurney that had been wheeled out. "Perceptor, Wheeljack, you've got Thundercracker, Prowl, Sunstreaker and Bumblebee!"

"What are Decepti-"

"Just DO it!" Ratchet roared. "First Aid, you've got Sideswipe, I need to operate on Prime now!" Frenzy started violently as a red hand snatched him from Prowl's shoulder and dumped him on Barricade.

"You two, there." Red Alert rumbled, pointing at a waiting bay. "Right where I can keep my optics on you!" Surprisingly Frenzy didn't argue back, understanding the seriousness of the situation. Elita had taken up a postion standing next to the gurney, now clutching one of Optimus's hands between her own small ones. The red mech nearly had a spark attack.

"ELITA?!"

"Later!" Ratchet roared, shoving the gunnery down the hall and into the first waiting repair room.

* * *

"Gaaahhh!!"

"Easy Sideswipe!" First Aid bit out, his hands moving at lightspeed to start the Energon transfusions. "I'll give you something for the pain in the minute, don't scream or else Sunny will come in!"

"AARRGGGHHH!!" The Protectorbot winced at the scream of pain, hitting the button for bands to come out of the berth in order to keep Sideswipe down. "AAHHH!"

"Easy easy." First Aid chanted over and over, grabbing a painkiller and shooting the red mech with it directly into an Energon line in Sideswipe's neck. He needed to get the red Twin pain-free and under before he started to reconnect the arm. Sideswipe flailed around, and then as the medication started to take effect, his struggles stopped and he went limp. Not wanting to press his luck First Aid followed that shot with a sedative, watching as the red mech's optics rolled back into his head and shuttered closed.

_Thank Primus…_ "Perceptor! I could use you over here!"

* * *

"Give me a breem!" Perceptor yelled. "I currently have my hands full over here!" Thundercracker had thankfully gone offline and was now deep in recharge on a berth, Wheeljack at work soldering temp-plating on his wounds. Sunstreaker on the other hand…had heard Sideswipe screaming and had all but bolted out of his own berth.

"Let me go you nerdy son of a glitch!"

"You can't do anything! He'll be fine!"

"I got this!" Ironhide rumbled, barreling in and helping shove Sunstreaker back on the bed. "Just pump his aft full of drugs, will you?!"

"I'm gonna fraggin rip your spark out and serve it to you on a platter!"

"That would make two of us then!" Perceptor snarled, shoving an armor plate away from Sunstreaker's arm and hitting an Energon line with a sedative. The yellow Autobot struggled for several more breems and then passed out, slumping over into their arms. "Just strap him down; I'll be back after I help First Aid!"

* * *

"Bumblebee, stop, I'm fine! Get yourself looked at!"

"No! You first!" The yellow spy protested. "Prowl please, sit down!"

"I have to keep an eye on Barricade and that-"

"Red Alert has that under control! Sit!" Faced with a 'about-to-fritz-out' youngling, Prowl obeyed, letting Bumblebee immediately open up the first aid kit to start treating his wounds. Knowing just who Bumblebee was worried about the most, he dragged in air though his vents.

"Optimus'll be fine." _He has to be. _"Ratchet's doing everything he can, I know it. And Elita's here, she'll help Ratchet save him." Bumblebee didn't respond save for a nod, not wanting to speak for fear of screaming in sheer terror. He could barely feel Optimus though their spark-bond, that blazing light that was the Autobot leader's presence had all but gone dark during that fight, bringing back memories of what he'd felt after Megatron's death-if Optimus were to…

_Primus, pleasepleaseplease…don't take away Optimus! Please!_

* * *

Ratchet didn't look up from his work as the door hissed open and closed, recognizing the footsteps of First Aid.

"Sideswipe?"

"In recharge, I got his arm reattached."

"Get over here and help." Elita still hadn't left Prime's side, one small hand still gripping her sparkmate's own, fingers running along the side of his chassis. The CMO had his own hands deep inside his friend's chest, replacing every single circuit, wire and tube that had been destroyed, coaxing systems to return to full function, temp-plating every single gaping hole inside and outside the frame, including the pump-box…

Any other mech would have died by now. But Ratchet was determined to not let that happen, he'd lost friends on his surgery table before, but he was _not_ going to lose Optimus.

"You better be hanging on." He muttered. "You hear me? _**Hang**_ on." Elita didn't say anything but lay her head down on her mate's frame, bringing the hand she held to rest on her own chest chassis, right above her spark.

* * *

Cycles passed. Prowl and Bumblebee were looked at by Perceptor and Wheeljack, but as soon as they were released they joined the others waiting outside the med-bay, Ratchet had been working on Optimus for over five hours now. Nightfire was in Chromia's arms, looking at up her mother and clicking. The silver-blue femme was slowly rocking her back and forth, optics trained on the 'bay doors. Ironhide was pacing up and down, cannons crackling, Barricade and Frenzy had left once they learned Thundercracker was stable, the Autobots knew they would return the next orn to check on their comrade. Bluestreak was looking anxiously at Prowl, Mirage was half-sparkly waving a stuffed toy in front of Nightfire, Wheeljack and Perceptor were speaking in hushed voices, Red Alert was checking a security monitor, and Bumblebee was pacing with Ironhide.

Then all of a sudden, the door hissed open, and a weary Ratchet emerged, spattered with Energon and other fluids. Meeting the optics of his friends, he nodded slowly.

"Oh thank Primus…" Hound whispered, dropping to the floor with a 'thud'.

"Elita?" Chromia asked.

"Won't leave his side, though she needs to be checked out…I'll do that tomorrow." The CMO replied, crashing into a seat, hands trembling as he buried his head in them. "Primus…I thought I was going to lose him…"

"Alright, we can't do much of anything now." Prowl said. "Everybody recharge right now-including you, Ratchet." Bumblebee had crept over to the door, wanting to take a look in but was stopped by Ironhide.

"Let them have some alone time." He rumbled. "You sleep with Chromia and me tonight, you hear?" The yellow spy nodded, accepting the embrace into which he was pulled.

"Prowl, what about Barricade and-"

"Tomorrow, Red Alert." Prowl snapped, and then forced his tone to calm down, knowing that he didn't sound like himself. "I don't like it either, but we're not fully functional at the moment. Recharge is the order of the night."

* * *

In the darkened medical bay, Elita gently ran her fingers over Optimus's faceplates. Leaving his side long enough to just wipe her armor off, she'd come back to snuggle into her mate's side, one hand gently moving up and down over his chest chassis. Her spark was singing to his on frequencies they only knew, gently reestablishing the link to a degree between them.

"I'm here." She murmured. "I'm here, and I'll never leave you again…" A sudden movement had her starting and drawing back slightly. As she watched, Optimus twitched again, his head moving to the side. "Optimus?"

* * *

He knew that voice. He knew that spark as well…but coming back _hurt. _

_Optimus?_

He'd heard that voice so long ago…he had to come back. Forget the Matrix, he had to come back, this voice…that spark was important. It'd been a desire, a secret yearning…something that he had suppressed for the greater good…

_Optimus? _For the first time in a long time, hope-joy-too many emotions to name flooded the Autobot leader. Slag the pain, if he could just open his optics…surely…

* * *

Elita jerked back as Optimus's optics suddenly flew open, a garbled cry of pain escaping his vocal processor as all his systems snapped online back at once…and _hurt. _A hand reached out, snatching hers-dragging it close. The femme leaned in closer, praying-hoping…

"Optimus?" She whispered again. Prime turned his head to the side, and Elita almost wept for joy, those blue optics staring into hers, recognition dawning.

"…El…ita?"

"Yes." Elita whispered; her voice cracking. "It's me." She closed her optics and then opened them again as one hand came up to gently cradle the side of her head, leaning into that warm curve. "I'm here, love."


	27. Regrouping

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Also, words spoken in Cybertronian are bold and italics.

* * *

**_Regrouping_**

The Ark was still and silent the following morning. Ratchet bit back a groan as he slowly got out of his recharge berth, having elected to offline in the communal bedroom that was just off the medical bay. Used only by the medical bay's officers when an emergency came up, it provided quick access for one to check on the patients next door.

_Looks like I'm the only one up. _First Aid, Perceptor and Wheeljack were still deep in recharge, and Ratchet didn't blame them. After he checked on Optimus and the others, he'd more than likely stretch out again on a berth inside the 'bay. _Prowl or Red Alert might be online soon, but I'd better go check on Elita first. _The rose-colored femme's health was now one of the CMO's top priorities; if she got back to full 100 functionality then it would reflect on Optimus, helping the Autobot leader recover faster from his wounds. Then everything else would just be a matter of the spark, something that he was _not _trained to deal with. Entering the room, his first stop was over by Sideswipe's berth, checking on the red Twin's status. First Aid had done a perfect job as usual, the red mech would have full use of his arm once more, right now his systems were in recovery from the Energon loss and the trauma sustained. A scan over the prone frame of Thundercracker showed that the Seeker was recovering just as nicely as Sideswipe.

_Sunstreaker, Bumblebee and Prowl…_ Ratchet picked up the datapadds and checked them over. _Thank Primus. Not as bad as I originally feared. _Now he could check on Optimus and Elita.

* * *

Elita was curled up on top of Optimus, her head resting just above his spark. At some point it had looked like Prime might have woken up, one hand was gripping one of Elita's in a deathgrip, and one arm was wrapped around her waist. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the yellow Autobot smiled, this was a reward that had been too long in coming to his old friend.

"Elita." He whispered, reaching out and gently shaking the femme by the shoulder. "Elita, wake up." The femme muttered, burrowing into Prime even more. "Elita. It's your turn for treatment." A sigh and then a pair of blue optics blinking wearily at him.

"Ra…tchet?"

"I need to treat you." The CMO said gently. "It won't take too long, and you'll be right next to him." The door opening and closing had his head turning; Chromia had entered the 'bay.

_Need my help? _She texted.

_Yes. _Chromia nodded, approaching her friend.

"Elita?" She said, her voice soft. The rose-colored femme lifted her head, sitting up.

"Chromia?" The silver-blue femme nodded. Shocked at the sight of her friend standing in front of her, Elita disengaged herself from Prime and stood up. "I thought…I thought…" She wobbled then, and Ratchet was quick to catch her.

"I thought so too." Chromia murmured. She stepped forward, taking a seat next to Elita on the recharge berth that Ratchet had helped her over to. _Ratchet?_

_Scanning now._The CMO replied. _So far it's just exhaustion thanks to low fuel and low power. She's lost some energon too but that's nothing a transfusion can't fix. _Suiting actions to words, he hurried over to one of the medical cabinets and started to prepare an I.V.

_Is that all?_

_No, I'm guessing her current state is also the result of her own separation from Optimus. Granted they really can't do much of anything to fix it until he's online, but she should be starting to normalize in another orn. _Chromia nodded, this silent Elita wasn't the one she was used to.

"How did you get here?" She asked, wanting some noise to fill the silence. "We didn't detect any incoming-"

"I really can't remember." Elita murmured. "I just…"

_She could barely remember the past several millennia. The pain had only become worse, taking every single resource she had to fight it off, to keep focused on her mission. At some points it was if she was running on automatic, a drone much in the way of the Guardian Robots. And then…_

**_With the Allspark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. And fate has yielded its reward: a new world to call home. We live among its people now, hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret, waiting, __protecting__. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars: we are here…__w__e are waiting._**

_She'd cried. For the first time in Primus knew how many vorns…she'd wept. Hearing his voice again, fresh hope coming to life within her spark-he was alive-he was calling for her…_

"I transformed immediately into transition mode and left." Elita whispered. "I didn't care about my surroundings, where I passed though…I just had to come here." She watched as Ratchet came back over, gently removing an armor panel on one of her arms to insert the I.V. "I don't even remember landing…or getting an alternate form…"

_She does. It's just not present in her processor currently; her whole being was wrapped up into getting to Optimus. _Ratchet texted. _Given some time, she'll remember the past millennia as well. _Patting Elita on the arm, he helped her stand up.

"You just lie down next to him for a while and let this get into your systems." He said, helping the rose-colored femme back over to Optimus's recharge berth. "I'll check on you in another two cycles, alright?" Elita nodded, wrapping the arm that didn't have the I.V. in it around the form of her bonded once more.

* * *

Prowl took a heavy drag of his morning Energon, Bluestreak had been thoughtful enough to add in a stimulant to help systems boot up faster. Beside him Red Alert looked just as weary, if not even more tired as the security officer.

"Report?" The black-and-white asked.

"Everyone's improved." Ratchet said, going for the gusto and sprawling down on a couch. "Sideswipe and Thundercracker will be online in another couple of cycles-and no, I am not going to trap him in a cell, Red Alert, he'll be online but trust me, he won't want to move around."

"But-"

"Optimus?" Prowl continued, wanting to stave off any fights. "And Elita?" His optics glanced over to the two worried humans sitting on top of Bumblebee's right shoulder.

"Stable. However, it's going to take a while for him to fully recover…if Elita hadn't arrived when she did, I wouldn't have been able to save him." Sick silence met those words.

"How is she doing?" Red Alert finally asked.

"Better than how she was. I'm going to focus my attention on making sure she gets back to full operating capacity." Ratchet answered.

"Wait, shouldn't you be focusing your attention on Optimus instead?" Sam interjected, anger coming into his voice. "How are you just-"

"It's okay Sam." Bumblebee was quick to interject. "And Ratchet is right, if he can heal Elita, Optimus will recover faster."

"What?"

"I don't get it." Mikaela said.

"You've heard us refer to Ironhide and Chromia as sparkmates, correct?" Ratchet asked. Nods from the humans had him continuing. "And a sparkmate is what?"

"Your version of a spouse." Sam answered. "Only it's a bit more complicated, right?"

"You humans have a term- 'one soul, two bodies.'" Chromia said. "That's what sparkmates are." She lifted one hand to her spark. "When one of us takes a bonded, our sparks merge and change…and so do our processes. Lines of code change to include the sparkmate. Our sparks leave permanent marks on each other…so much so that the only way to describe it is that Ironhide has my spark, and I have his. As long as I live there will be no other mech for me, and there won't be another femme for him. I feel when he's hurt or upset, and he can sense the same thing." Her optics lowered. "And if we were separated…or even if one of us died…" Her hand fisted. The humans were silent, looking at the silver-blue femme in shock.

"All of this…and Ironhide still left you?" Mikaela finally whispered.

"He had no choice. Just as Optimus had no choice in leaving Elita." Chromia answered. "But it was Pit itself…waiting for him." She trembled slightly, and then started as Bumblebee suddenly took her hands.

"Sparkbonding goes beyond the physical into the spiritual." Ratchet said briskly, giving the grateful femme a chance to recover. "In short, Chromia and Ironhide's lives are connected together. Being separated can kill them, one dying will most certainly kill the other as well. The same goes for Optimus and Elita…only the separation was starting to kill them both."

"But they'll be okay now, right?" Sam said, his voice now filled with worry. "I mean, they're together now, right?" The lightbulb however had clicked on in Mikaela's head.

"Oh! That's why you said you were focusing on Elita! If she's healthy, then it'll go though their bond to Optimus and then he'll get better too!" She exclaimed.

"Right. While it won't help him get back to full functionality, it'll be a good boost."

"Femmes are actually a bit more resilient than mechs." Chromia said, giving Bumblebee a smile and patting him on the head. "And Elita had plenty to spare and then some."

"Elita just might end up splitting up the workload with you, Prowl." The CMO rumbled. "Like I said before, it's going to take Optimus a while to fully recover."

"But that's time we don't have!" Red Alert protested. "Not with the Decepticons-"

"I don't think those two are with Shockwave." Ironhide rumbled, entering the room with a still-recharging Nightfire in his arms. Chromia's faceplates brightened upon seeing her mate and sparkling, feeling their bond wash away the remembered pain of bad memories. Ironhide smiled in reply, sitting down next to Chromia and handing her Nightfire. "They could have easily helped him kill us off yesterday but they didn't."

"Doesn't mean that they still will!"

"From I've been told, it doesn't sound like Barricade wants to do anything to help the Decepticon cause." Bluestreak said suddenly. "Neither he or Frenzy. Whatever he wants, it's got to do with what he told Prowl about Floatila." This statement resulted in the Autobots staring at him for several breems.

"…Primus, I think Blue's got a point." Chromia whispered. "It sounds crazy yes, but it makes sense…"

"For now, let's just start with Thundercracker." Prowl said, shooting a thoughtful look at the younger 'bot. "Ratchet, you said he'd be online but?"

"He'll be far too sore to move around." The CMO said.

"Shockwave took some pretty damaging blows." Ironhide rumbled. "He won't be doing anything to bother us or the humans for a while. Gives us a little bit of time..." The black-and-white mech nodded.

"I don't like doing this, but we can't do much of anything today…save for maybe trying to see if we can't get any more information out of Barricade when he comes. To that end-" He nodded at Nightfire. "She needs to be at Autobot City for the orn, or at least until Barricade and Frenzy leave."

"Maybe we should just move there for the time being." Red Alert suggested. "It's more secure than the Ark…Ratchet?"

"I don't want to move Prime." Ratchet answered, optics narrowing. "He's not out of trouble yet, if he was, I'd say yes in a pumpbeat but no."

"Autobot City would be safer." Prowl countered. "If we had more 'bots then we could split up, but we don't."

"What about the C.R. chamber? Couldn't we put him in there and then move him?" Bumblebee asked.

"You'd be _pushing_ it with that." Was the answering snarl before a sigh came from the same vents that issued it. "Maybe. If he improves enough today and tonight, _maybe._"

"That's better than nothing." Prowl said. "We're going to have to use the auto-defenses for today while we try and regroup-can one of you brief the others when they finally get out of recharge?"

"I can." Ironhide volunteered.

"Bluestreak, you and Hound are going to have to sparkling-sit today."

"That works." The blue 'bot said, making faces at the slowly-awakening Nightfire. "We'll take her to Autobot City, just let us know when it's all clear."

"I'll follow." Chromia said. "I want to talk to Elita first, see if I can't help her a little more." Hearing her name, the sparkling squeaked in delight, now fully up and running.

"How can we help, Prowl?" Sam asked.

"You two and Bumblebee get to Captain Lennox and the others. We're going to need some help moving to Autobot City."

* * *

Elita slowly ran a hand over Optimus's frame, reveling in the feel of her sparkmate being so close to her once again. She'd carefully shifted position, allowing the Autobot leader to sprawl across her frame, his head pressed into her chest chassis, right above her spark.

"Too bad you're offline." She murmured, a smile twitching on her mouthplates as fond memories flitted though her processor. "This was a favorite position of yours." A twitch had her falling silent. "Optimus?"

"…Mmph…I'm crushing you…"

"No, no, you're not!" Elita responded, her spark dancing with joy at hearing her mate's voice. "I put you like this."

"…I would try something but I'm too tired." Optimus mumbled, his CPU slowly coming up from unconsciousness. His own spark was dancing with delight, it wasn't a dream, and it was true! "I thought…I thought I was dreaming…"

"You're not." Elita whispered, bending over to cradle his head in her hands. "It's real. I'm real. We're together again…" To this Optimus had no response, save for weakly reaching up and wrapping his arms around Elita, pressing his head against her chest.

"I'm…I'm…"

"Sssh, rest first." Elita said, stroking his back. "We have all the time in the world to speak…but you need to get better first." A nod was her reply; Optimus was beginning to tire already.

"The…others…"

"Prowl I think is in charge for now."

"No…sparkling." Prime muttered. This had Elita jerking in surprise.

"What?"

"Nightfire…danger. Shockwave…"

"Nightfire? Who's Nightfire?" Elita demanded, exhaustion far from her mind now.

"Ironhide…Chromia…gotta…get her away…from…" The lure of Elita's pump was too much, and with a happy sigh Optimus went into recharge, cuddling as close as he could get to his mate's pumpbeat. His sparkmate though, found her mental processes were in a whirl.

_Sparkling? __Ironhide and Chromia?_The door opened and closed, and Elita looked up to see Ratchet walk in and then stop cold at the sight of them.

"…Elita, he needs time to recover." He said, winking one optic. Then holding up one hand as the look he got promised that his CPU would be ripped out while he was still functioning, laughed. "I'm joking! Did he wake up ag-"

"Who is Nightfire?" Elita demanded. Ratchet stopped, blinking at her.

"He said her name?"

"Who is Nightfire?"

"Ironhide and Chromia's sparkling. Onlined several human months ago." Elita looked down at her sparkmate, old instincts that she thought had died with Floatila starting to rouse.

"He said something about Shockwave and a sparkling." Ratchet's optics widened.

"Pit!" He hissed, opening a com-link. "Prowl? Get your aft down here, Elita's awake, she said Prime onlined and said something about Nightfire and Shockwave. I want to know what the frag happened yesterday!"

_On my way.__ Hound and Bluestreak have left for Autobot City, she's with them. _Ratchet nodded, deactivating the link.

"Are you feeling any better?" Elita nodded. "Good. I hate doing this, but you're going to have to get back on your feet as fast as possible to help him."

"That's a given, Ratchet." The rose-colored femme said, her optics darkening. How dare did he imply that she wouldn't help Optimus! Realizing how he must have sounded, the CMO sighed.

"I didn't mean how it sounded, Elita. Things are…getting ugly and Prowl wants all of us to move to Autobot City for the time being."

"Autobot City?"

"It's a…well; we started work on a city." The yellow medic said, waving a hand. "The point is, it's almost fully operational, and while the main computer isn't running the defensive systems are. Because of Shockwave, he thinks it's best we move into an area where we would be safer…I only said yes if Prime stabilized enough to be put in a C.R. chamber while we transferred him."

"I see." Elita said. "Is there any other way I can help?"

"Not at the moment, you just rest and recover."

* * *

AN: Not much this chapter I know, it's setup for what's coming up. As for Optimus and Elita's behaviors, well they've been seperated for so long, not to mention that Optimus is recovering and starting to get rid of all that emotional baggage he's been carrying around for so many years... -shrug-

;) Anyway. Things start to get going in the next chapter, Elita meets Bumblebee for the very first time...and oddly enough, he seems very familiar to her. ;)


	28. Suspicions

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas.

Regarding Bumblebee and Elita, the reason for them not meeting prior to this chapter will be covered at a later point in the fic.

* * *

_**Suspicions **_

"Aww, who's the cute little sparkling? Who's the cute little sparkling?" Nightfire squeaked with delight at the attention she was being given, rolling up into a little ball and scooting behind a pillow. "Somebody's a pretty little femme, yes…"

"Blue, I'm begging you, stop with the sparkling-talk." Hound said, coming up behind his friend with a box. "You could rot some human's teeth off or something like that." Bluestreak smiled, reaching out and gently tickling Nightfire.

"Look at the pretty little 'bot." Another squeak and Nightfire settled for sprawling out on her back, looking at her caretaker upside down. "Oh, you're going to be a real pretty one when you get older."

"BLUE."

"Coming now!" The blue mech sat up, going over to his green counterpart. "What are we doing again?"

"Programming the command center computers. At least until it's safe to go back there." Hound replied, starting to type some commands in. A series of hisses and clicking had him turning around; deprived of the attention Nightfire was starting to get angry.

"Wah!"

"Here." Several soft plush animals were deposited in the pen, one of them being the beloved stuffed cat. Nightfire stopped mid-rev, immediately reaching out and grabbing the soft toy, starting to click and squeak to it.

"If only things were so easy." Bluestreak murmured.

"Indeed. Here, start with this set of codes."

* * *

Ratchet busied himself on the far end of the lab, occasionally shooting glances over at the huddled group of Barricade, Thundercracker, and Frenzy. The trio was talking in low tones, and occasionally Frenzy would pet the Seeker as if to comfort him. Prowl was lurking in the hallway, and Red Alert was paying attention to the security monitors up on the bridge.

_I wonder what's going on. _Then he all but jumped out of his armor as a set of claws started to poke him. "Gaah!"

"stupidautobotautobot!" Frenzy hissed, kicking at Ratchet's leg. "Paypaypayattention!" Then he yelped and jumped back as a laser wielder was all but shoved dangerously in his face.

"Listen here, you skittering piece of scrap." Ratchet hissed. "Kick me again and I will personally dismantle you and turn you into an exhaust pipe, understand?!"

"Sssccreewwwyou!"

"Frenzy, stop." Barricade rumbled, coming up to the two. "Go and keep Thundercracker company while I speak to the Autobot." The silver hacker hissed at Ratchet again before skittering over to the Seeker.

"I confess to curiosity, how in Primus's name have you been able to tolerate him all this time?" Ratchet asked. Barricade smirked.

"You become accustomed to the insanity over time." He answered.

"Insanity sounds like you're putting it mildly." The CMO muttered. "Get him off the human stimulants; they're only going to make it worse." The black-and-white scowled.

"Your human friend and youngling saw fit to use it in an attempt to torture him." He growled, watching as Ratchet stopped in surprise. "Oh, you didn't know? They tried to drug him and get information out of him."

"Was he hurt?" Ratchet answered, his optics flicking over to the silver 'bot. _Bumblebee, what the Pit were__ you thinking?!_

"No. Just insulted about a 'waste of good coffee'. Your sedatives do not have any effect against the beverage either."

"I see." The yellow Autobot answered, at a loss. It sounded like Frenzy hadn't been physically tortured…or mentally…just… The medic blinked, shoving that problem to the side. "I will speak to Bumblebee and Sam personally on this matter. Is there anything else?"

"Please allow Thundercracker to stay with you after he recovers." This really made Ratchet start in surprise, and he stared at Barricade. "His situation among the Decepticons was strained, and with the deaths of Megatron and Starscream he can…" Here the Decepticon paused to consider his words. "do whatever _he_ wishes."

"I don't understand." Ratchet answered warily, shooting a sideways glance at Prowl who had just conveniently entered the 'bay.

"Thundercracker had only been a vorn out of Floatila when the city was destroyed. He still had very close ties to his caretakers and friends there." Not wanting to see the sudden sympathy that filled Ratchet's optics Barricade deliberately turned his head to the side. "He only was loyal to Megatron and Starscream for fear of his own life."

"Do you have evidence to back that up?" Prowl inquired, coming up behind him.

"Search Avatar databanks 000014560-Taleries Sector, caretaker Nova." Barricade replied. Ratchet nodded.

"It'll take him a few more orns to recover fully."

"I hear that you're moving?" At this Prowl glared at Frenzy, who was snickering away near a console.

"Same amount of time." Ratchet answered. "But we'll keep an eye on him." Barricade nodded.

"Frenzy." Shuddering back into his alternate mode, he let the hacker get inside before driving out of the 'bay, heading for the Ark's main entrance.

"Well?" Prowl asked after several breems had passed. Ratchet had gone over to a console, typing in the information Barricade had provided.

"Checks out." Several images came up on the monitor. "It says here his original function was battlefield tactics-looks like he didn't convert to aerial combat until after Floatila."

"That computes with what Barricade told us." Prowl crossed his arms. "Primus, he actually spoke the truth for once." Ratchet shot a thoughtful look at the Seeker, who had settled back down onto his recharge berth, curling up into a ball as best as he could.

"Poor 'bot." He murmured. "Let's just give him a little space for now-and Prowl? Do me a favor and have Sam and Bumblebee come and see me when they get back?"

"Of course. I actually need to speak to them as well. Just how did they encounter Thundercracker to begin with?" At this Ratchet pressed his mouthplates together, debating if he should share what Barricade had told him.

"Hn…"

* * *

Elita slowly pulled herself out of Optimus's grip. She'd fallen into a short recharge, waking up only when her systems alerted her to the fact that her tanks were empty. Ratchet had thoughtfully left several cans of Energon under a warmer, the rose-colored femme sipped at the liquid gratefully as she turned back around to look at her sparkmate.

_Even after all this time, he still looks like a youngling when he's recharging. _One of the few times Elita had ever seen Optimus fully relax was when he was in recharge. Her optics narrowed as Ratchet's words came back to her processor.

_Nightfire__ She's __Ironhide__ and __Chromia's__ sparkling._ Elita gripped the can tightly as a wave of emotions rushed though her.

_Primus __be__ praised, little ones again. _And she couldn't think of anyone who deserved a sparkling more than Chromia. Ironhide however, was a different story. _I hope little __Nightfire's__ taking after __Chromia__. Primus please, let her take after __Chromia!_

"Elita?" The rose-colored femme turned, speak of Unicron. Chromia stood near the entrance, smiling.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little better, thank you for asking." Elita responded. Chromia looked at her old friend for another breem, and then strode forward, embracing Elita. "Ah?"

"Thank Primus you're okay." Chromia whispered. "It was Pit being separated from you all-not knowing what happened, and then Optimus…" Elita relaxed, and returned the hug in kind.

"I missed you all too." She replied back. "And _**him**_…" She shuddered, and Chromia understood the implications. Forcing yourself to function orn after orn though the pain, fighting off the depression and clinging onto hope…

"We're together, and that's what matters." The silver-blue femme said after a while. "More and more Autobots are responding to Optimus's call, maybe Moonracer and Firestar will be among the new arrivals." Elita nodded, pulling back.

"Yes." Forcing herself to regain her composure, she looked at her friend and smiled. "I heard congratulations are in order." Chromia beamed with pride.

"Hound and Bluestreak are bringing her back; you can come and meet her if you wish."

"But of course." Elita murmured, looking at Optimus. It was safe to leave him for only several breems…was it? Chromia caught her friend's look and shook her head.

"They'll bring her into the other room. Ratchet needs to give her a quick checkup anyway." Suiting actions to words, she sent a quick text message to Hound and Bluestreak. Elita nodded, grateful that she wouldn't be separated for too long from her mate.

"I thought…" She began, swinging an arm over Chromia's shoulders. "That when I gave you my blessing for Ironhide, part of the agreement was that you wouldn't allow him to _spawn._" The old joke had Chromia smiling, happy memories coming back into her processor.

"He was getting pitiful. I had to put him out of his misery." She replied, winking one optic. "And Nightfire was a pleasant little result."

"Am I assuming the name is the result of-mmpphh!" For Chromia now had slammed one hand over Elita's mouthplates, glaring.

"Do not think the fact that you're still recovering will protect you from me kicking your aft."

"Would the same go for her personality?" Elita shot out before ducking away from her friend. Chromia growled.

"When you and Optimus decide to have your own little one, I assure you I will be returning this in kind!" She snapped.

"That'll be on hold for a while, I'm afraid." The rose-colored femme said, sighing. Even though she was weary, her CPU was already trying to plot out what would be her next move, Optimus wouldn't be able to participate in active duty for a good while-while Prowl and Jazz were best suited to take over, as his sparkmate she'd be obligated to take over a good share of his duties-if more femmes arrived, she had to resume her job as their commander…

"Just like how a little…horizontal spark-tango is on hold until he gets better?" Chromia asked slyly. Elita felt her processes freeze, strangled sounds coming from her vocal processor.

"CHROMIA!" She finally blurted out, then clapping her hands over her mouthplates and shooting a glance at Optimus. Good, he was still in recharge. "You dirty-minded…"

"I am not the one who was seen going into his office talking about a '15-breem' meeting and not coming out until two cycles _after_ said mee-"

"Shut up!"

"Um, hello?" Bluestreak ventured, sticking his head though the 'bay doors. "Sparking delivery?" Cackling, Chromia walked over.

"Why hello there." She crooned, her spark calling out to Nightfire's own. Nightfire squealed in delight, all but jumping from Hound's arms into her mother's own.

"Chromi!"

"Was she good?"

"Had a very long conversation with her toys while we were working." Hound responded, his optics brightening as he saw Elita. "Commander!"

"Hound, Bluestreak, it's good to see you again."

"We're all happy you're here, Elita!" Bluestreak said, a smile on his faceplates. "Though not happy as Optimus-but still, it's so good to see that you're okay!" The femme smiled.

"Thank you." Her optics fell to the little bundle of dark-blue wires that was in her friend's arms as the duo left. "Well, who's this?" In response, Nightfire clicked quizzically at the new 'bot in front of her, who was this stranger? Clicking again, she looked up at Chromia, one little hand fisting on her chest chassis.

"Nightfire, I want you meet someone very special." Chromia said, her spark full of pride. "This is my oldest and dearest friend, Elita-One." Nightfire squeaked again, sticking her right hand in her mouthplates and considering the rose-colored femme.

"She's beautiful." Elita said, meaning every single word. Her own spark ached slightly at the sight, to have her own little sparkling to care for and to love- Nightfire wriggled, and then suddenly held out her arms to Elita. "Aww, you want a hug?"

"Here." Chromia said, handing her daughter over. "Might as well get you used to holding a little one-" Here she winked. "Since I'm betting that by the end of the human year you're going to have Prime's sparkling squeaking away in your arms."

"I beg your pardon?!" Elita said, watching as her friend waved at her and then ducked out of the 'bay. "Chromia!"

"I'll be right back!" Blissfully unaware of what had just happened, Nightfire snuggled into Elita's chest chassis, familiarizing herself with this new pump-beat and the spark that lay beneath it all. The rose-colored femme looked down at the happily cooing sparkling, feeling old instincts that had been buried for so long resurfacing.

"…I guess this wouldn't hurt for a while." She murmured, taking a seat near a window. Nightfire squeaked in reply, blinking her blue optics at Elita adorningly. The femme felt her mouthplates twitch in a smile, who could resist those beautiful blues?

"You are going to be a handful, aren't you?" She cooed, leaning back and letting Nightfire sit up somewhat, making sure to support her back. "Yes, you are. You are going to give that trigger-happy mech so much trouble…"

"Excuse me?" Elita turned her head; standing in front of her was a yellow mech. "Elita-One?" Nightfire turned her head. Seeing Bumblebee she squealed loudly, waving her arms at him.

"Bee!!" Elita sat up.

"Yes?" Her spark had slammed in her chest the minute she had laid optics on the yellow 'bot, it had recognized something _very_ familiar about him. "I'm sorry…do I know you?"

"You might have heard about me…I'm Bumblebee?"

"The name is familiar, yes…" Elita answered. "Wait. Tyger Pax?" The story of one mech single-handedly keeping Megatron away from the AllSpark long enough for it to be launched in outer space had spread like wildfire throughout the Autobot ranks. A nod confirmed it. "It's an honor to meet you."

"It's a greater honor to meet you." Bumblebee answered. "Optimus speaks highly of you-in fact, he often talks about you." Elita nodded, that _feeling_ growing stronger.

_I've never met this __mech__ before, and yet my spark…it seems that it knows him! _The femme shook her head. _I must be more tired than I thought…or perhaps it's his young age. Holding __Nightfire's__ got my processors all going __glitchy._

"Bee Bee!" Nightfire squeaked, trying to wriggle out of Elita's arms to get to her 'big brother'. "Bee!"

"Come here, you." Bumblebee said, easily picking up the dark-blue paintjob and allowing her to snuggle in. "I can watch you for several breems, and then I'm dropping you off by 'Hide. If Ratchet comes in and finds that we're keeping his patients from resting, he's going to have our skidplates." Straightening, he gave Elita a neat little bow. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Commander."

"Likewise…" The femme answered, watching as Bumblebee exited with the giggling sparkling. Left alone with her thoughts, she lifted one hand to her chest, pressing it against the area where her spark was.

_He seems almost a bit like…__Optimus__! Yes, that's it, he seems like __Optimus. _She chuckled ruefully. _That's it. It's probably because they've been together for so long. _Rising, she moved back over to the sleeping Autobot leader and gently sliding in next to him. _I'm so messed up that I can't tell what my own feelings are even! Still…_ She traced the patterns of the flames on her mate's paintjob. _It's odd, he's far younger than the other __Autobots__, if anything it seems like he probably came online…_ Her fingers froze as her CPU finished the thought.

_After __Floatila__…but there weren't any records of any family units outside of the city! _She looked down at Optimus, her thoughts in a whirl. _Were we wrong? Did anyone actually survive? _All good questions, but not ones she could answer when her subroutines for recharge had started. _If anything, it's something to ask Ratchet about._

* * *

Bumblebee clicked softly at Nightfire as she played with her stuffed cat, his thoughts going back to Elita.

_I wonder why did my spark feel that __way? _He put one hand to his chest. _Is it because she's __Optimus's __sparkmate__? They say when you bond with __somebody,__ their spark leaves an imprint on yours._ He looked down at his hand. _I guess it would be nice if I had something of her spark in mine._ Just the thought of being part of a family unit… The scout shuttered his optics against the painful flare of hope.

_I don't even know if __Optimus__ wants me or not. _He knew of his creation, the contact with the AllSpark had told him that much. _And even if he did, how would she take it? She's been with him longer than I have…_

"Bee!" Nightfire squeaked. "Play!" Forcing the dark thoughts from his processor, Bumblebee smiled down at his little sister. Here at least was one 'bot who wouldn't reject him.

* * *

AN: If during the Elita and Bumblebee part of this chapter you went d'oh! and expressed a desire to either hit me or ask me wtf is going on in my brain, good, I intended for you to get that result. ;)

I'm still gelling my ideas together, but Optimus and Elita have been seperated for a very long time. The two of them just being together for two days isn't going to magically fix everything up, both have their own emotional baggage to clear out and both need to get used/adjusted to the other's presence again. So have no fear, Elita WILL catch on to the relationship between Optimus and Bumblebee (I may have not liked her G1 colors but I sure as hell admire her brainpower) and well...I can safely say that's going to be a chapter all of you will very much enjoy.

And if anyone wants to also take bets with Chromia said on incoming Prime/Elita sparkling...


	29. Fragmentation

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow some of their ideas. I'm sorry it took me a while to update, but this chapter was pretty difficult, I'm still not happy with it but anyway, here's what I was able to type out.

Also, there's quite a bit of Cybertronian spoken, so as usual, all words in that tongue are bolded and in italics. And yes, I am starting to read TF IDW, I love it, and now Jetfire will always be partnered with the Technobots in anything I write. -fangirl giggling-

* * *

**_Fragmentation_**

_**Autobot Science/Survey Vessel Calabi-Yau**_

Jetfire turned away from the console, a somber expression on his faceplates.

**_"What's wrong?"_** Silverbolt asked.

_**"Optimus was attacked by Shockwave."**_ The scientist answered. Skydive spit out the mouthful of Energon he had just swallowed.

_**"Shockwave?!"**_

_**"Is he alright?"**_ Silverbolt asked worriedly.

_**"He's fine, but it's going to take him a while to recover."**_ Ratchet had also transmitted that Elita had been Prime's savior, one that had Jetfire saying a quick prayer of relief to Primus (even though he was a scientist first and foremost, one never knew). _**"Elita-One's also there with them."**_

_**"Good for Optimus! I know he had to be missing her something terrible."**_ The Aerialbot leader said, a smile appearing on his faceplates.

_**"What the frag is Shockwave doing out here?!"**_ Skydive demanded. **_"You don't think-"_**

_**"I already sent a message to the rest of your team and the Techonobots."**_ Jetfire answered. _**"They'll warn the colonists."**_

_**"What happened?"**_ Silverbolt wanted to know.

_**"Apparently-"**_ Jetfire said, crossing his arms. _**"This part I do not exactly understand myself, but it had to do with Bumblebee and a human friend of his, Frenzy, coffee and torture…"**_ Seeing the identical looks of shock and puzzlement on his fellow 'bots faceplates, he shrugged his shoulders. _**"Thundercracker and Barricade arrived, Thundercracker chased and engaged Bumblebee in a fight and then Shockwave showed up. Optimus, the Twins and Prowl came as backup, there was a fight, Shockwave disabled everyone save for Optimus and was about to deactivate him when Elita showed up…"**_

_**"Stop, I think I'm getting the gist of it."**_ Skydive said, holding up a hand. The scientist shook his head.

_**"No, there's more. Shockwave told them that there had been survivors of Floatila."**_ One could have heard a pin drop in the silence. _**"We're the only ones who know what he's talking about, but the others are concerned over something else similar."**_

_**"Bee."**_ Silverbolt muttered. _**"He's the perfect age for that monster."**_

_**"Him, but not so much."**_ Jetfire countered.

_**"What?"**_

_**"Huh?"**_

_**"Ironhide and Chromia created a femme sparkling. She onlined about several human months ago, they're calling her Nightfire."**_ There was another silence, and then the white and red 'bot found himself covering his auditory receptors as the explosion went off.

_**"WHAT?!"**_

* * *

"No!"

"Nightfire." Ironhide rumbled, forcing his voice to sound calm. "You have to go in your playpen now."

"No!"

_Primus give me strength to deal with this, I don't want to lose my temper! _"This is not an option."

"NO!" Twittering in rage, Nightfire started to kick and squirm, little hands beating against her father's chest. "nonoNONONONONONO!" As the black mech started to lower her to the soft fabric, she only increased kicking and squirming, threatening to slip out of Ironhide's hands.

"You need to recharge." Her father ordered.

"NO! PLAY!"

"You're not going to be playing." Ironhide said, biting back the urge to snarl. "Perceptor will be watching you while we move Optimus to Autobot City, when I come back and you're all fully rested then we'll play." Nightfire scrunched up her faceplates, a loud wail of compliant coming from her vocal processor. "Scream all you want runt, it's not going to get you out of this." The sparkling's recharge cycle had become a little erratic recently-Ratchet had assured a panicking Ironhide and Chromia that this was normal, Nightfire's systems were readjusting themselves to better accommodate the speed at which she was now absorbing information.

Translation: Nightfire was not dropping off into recharge as early…or as fast as she used to.

"WAH!"

"Now, now." Perceptor scolded gently, coming in and picking up the angry sparkling. "A fit is not going to do you any good." Nightfire twittered angrily, starting to kick and beat her fists against the scientist's chassis. "You're just cranky because you need a little recharge, that's all."

"Aaahhh!"

"Let her recharge for a cycle or so." Ironhide rumbled, running his hand over his daughter's head in an attempt to calm her down. "Her Energon's in the-"

"I know what I'm doing, Ironhide." Perceptor answered. "I've done this plenty of times before with Bumblebee, remember? You catch up with the others, and by the time you return, Nightfire will be back to her sweet disposition." This statement was punctuated by Nightfire throwing her stuffed cat to the ground and starting to twitter in rage.

* * *

"Am I doing this right?"

"Back it up slow." Will Lennox ordered, his eyes never leaving the massive tank that held the recharging form of Optimus within it. The Autobots had asked for his team's assistance in helping them move their leader to Autobot City, and the humans had only been too happy to help their friends. "Easy Epps…" In the borrowed 18-wheeler, Epps pressed down on the brake, looking out of the driver's side window. Connected to the trunk was the large C.R. chamber on a flatbed trailer, and _dangerously _close to the trailer was a rose Corvette.

"Hey man…uh…whoever the 'Vette is-"

"Elita, back up." Ratchet ordered, having transformed back into his original form. "Chromia, where the slag is your sparkmate?!"

"He's on his way!" The silver-blue femme answered.

"Keep backing up Epps!" Will called. First Aid and Wheeljack were waiting at the entrance of the command center, ready to move the C.R. chamber from the flatbed. "That's it…" The sound of a familiar engine.

"About time you showed up!" Ratchet snapped.

"You see how hard it is when you're trying to soothe an upset sparkling!" Ironhide snapped back.

"Excuses, excuses. Help out, slacker!" The Topkick shuddered as Ironhide's form came out, Will smiled and waved a hand at his friend. The black mech winked, at him, and then hurried over to help the other Autobots.

"Okay Epps, stop right there!" Nodding, Epps put the trunk in park and shut off the engine, getting out just in time as Ironhide and the others started to move the chamber to a gurney. Elita was also quick to transform, hovering not too far away from the group.

"Hey hey, who's she?" Epps asked, pointing.

"Elita-One." Jazz answered, having come up behind them with several Autobot-sized boxes in his hands. "She's Prime's femme."

"Alright! I didn't know my boy had a lady friend! Good for him!"

"When did she arrive?" Will asked, his full attention on Jazz. "We didn't get any warning or any indication that another protoform had landed."

"That's a mess in and of itself-I'm still trying to do the report for ya', Lennox."

"Mess?"

"Elita's got no memory of how she landed here. Ratchet says it should come back soon, and the reasons why she lost it…I don't think ya wanna' get into that."

"Why?" Epps asked. In response Jazz caught Will's eye, tapping at his chest and then his head. "What? What's that?"

"Oh." Will said, understanding.

"Oh what? You want to translate the code for me here?"

* * *

"Here we go." Ratchet rumbled, tapping in some commands on the C.R. chamber's control unit. "He should be coming out of recharge now." Stepping back, he watched as the door lifted up slowly, revealing the still form of Optimus. The red and blue 'bot twitched, optics slowly un-shuttering. "Prime?"

"…uwgh…Ratchet?"

"How are you feeling?" The CMO asked, his voice surprisingly gentle.

"…tired…"

"We'll take care of that for you." Ironhide rumbled, carefully taking one of his friend's arms, Prowl taking the other and helping the Autobot leader of the chamber. "Got a nice big recharge berth, there's even enough room for Elita to stretch out with you."

"Elita…where…"

"I'm here, Optimus." Elita said, coming alongside Ironhide and quickly taking her mate's hand. As Optimus was helped onto the recharge berth she slid in beside him, one hand reaching up to automatically start stroking her bonded's head.

"Ratchet? Prowl?" Bluestreak poked his head past the doorway. "Jetfire's on the com, wants to speak to you both."

"We're kinda busy at the moment, tell him to call back!" Ratchet snapped, running several quick scans over Optimus.

"I would, but he said it was really important-that it's about survivors of Floatila." The blue 'bot winced as several sets of blue optics suddenly locked onto him.

"…Tell him we'll be right there."

* * *

"Ratchet! Ratchet, wait!"

"Not now Bumblebee!" The yellow scout didn't accept this answer and hurried up to catch to the CMO, going around him and blocking his path. "I am still-"

"Here!" Ratchet found himself stepping back as a data-cube was shoved in his face. "I made this for you-"

"Bee-"

"It's that human book called Grey's Anatomy! I know you've been waiting to read it but just haven't had the time-" Ratchet stopped, eying the cube and then the hopeful youngling in front of him.

"This is _not_ getting you off the hook." Bumblebee's shoulders slumped. "However, you _are_ forgiven." This got the scout's attention, and he looked at Ratchet eagerly as the older 'bot took the cube from his hands. "If you're good, I'll talk Prowl into getting you off his blacklist."

"Thank you Ratchet!"

"Whoa!" The CMO stumbled back slightly as he suddenly got an armful of happy youngling. "Okay, okay. Get off!"

"Can I go see Optimus?"

"Only for several breems, mind. He's still recovering." The spy nodded, and hurried down the hallway towards the medical bay. Ratchet watched him go, a smile appearing on his faceplates.

_What can I say? He's still a youngling. And so is Sam. _He sub-spaced the cube away. Besides, the footage of a drunken Frenzy…_**priceless**. _Now they had something on the skittering fragger.

* * *

"This had better be good, Jetfire." Ret Alert warned. "This is a major breach of security, leaving everything like-"

_**"Is the fact that you'll soon be dealing with an incoming shuttle full of colonists intent on settling down in Autobot City good enough?"**_ Was Jetfire's answer.

"Does this have anything to do with Shockwave said about Floatila?" Prowl demanded.

_**"Let me tell the story first, and then you can ask all the questions you want."**_

* * *

_The Calabi-Yau was under heavy fire from an attacking Decepticon ship. With the engines gone, it had taken every skill Jetfire and the Technobots possessed to make sure they landed in one piece on a nearby planet. But the Decepticons weren't giving up, following them to the surface and opening fire. The Autobots soon found themselves cornered, facing imminent deactivation when-_

_**"Hold it right there!"** Jetfire and the Technobots froze, the voice was unmistakably that of a femme. Before they could react however, fresh gunfire broke out and a group of 'bots appeared. The processor-freezing thing was, they were all femmes…And while half of them had the Autobot insignia on them, the others bore the markings of the Primus Dawn._

**_"We thought we were dealing with a massive Decepticon trick."_** Jetfire confessed. _**"But they soon confirmed their identies, and took us to their headquarters. They said that they had been ordered by Starstorm, Lunar and Lightstream to pass on a recorded message from them to any Autobot they saw, to be given to Optimus or whoever the current Prime was."**_

_**"Do you have it?"**_ Ratchet asked. Jetfire nodded, typing something into the console in front of him. The picture of him and the Aerialbots disappeared, to be replaced by a static-filled picture of the three femmes who had been the leaders of Floatila City.

_**'If you're seeing this, then it means that we've passed on into the Matrix."**_ Starstorm began, light glinting off her purple armor. _**"And that you must act as fast as possible to safeguard the little ones who live on this planet."**_

_**"Please forgive us for our actions."**_ Lightstream said, clearly Starstorm's Autobot counterpart. _**"But we felt it was best to stay hidden…given the situation."**_

_**"Like you, we learned too late that the attack on Iacon was only a diversion to keep your forces occupied."**_ Lunar said, the Primus Dawn's insignia flashing on her upper arm. _**"Megatron destroyed all our defenses, we had no choice but to flee to the escape pods."**_ She trailed off, shuddering. _**"His soldiers were waiting for us…and opened fire."**_ Her optics darkened._** "All the little ones…"**_

_**"We managed to get a small group of younglings on a shuttle, and several caretakers arrived with some sparklings**_." Starstorm said into the silence._** "The Decepticons had left the area alone for the moment, believing that we were all dead. We were about to board when…"**_ Here she trailed off, looking to the side before facing the camera again.

_**"Shockwave."**_ Lightstream said bluntly. _**"He attacked the shuttle, disabling the engines. We thought he was going to go after us next, but…**_" A pause, and then the Autobots gasped as the picture changed to a ruined shuttlebay, small bodies strewn all over the floor, fire licking at the walls…and in the middle of it all, the hulking purple form of Shockwave.

"What the Pit?" Wheeljack whispered in horror. Bluestreak whimpered and buried his face into Prowl's shoulder, no expression crossed Chromia's face but she gripped Ironhide's hand tightly.

_**"There is a Decepticon shuttle at the western docks."**_ The recorded voice of Shockwave intoned. "_**More of your kind are on board, but you only have ten breems before a security detail comes though here."**_

_**"What treachery is this?!"**_ Starstorm demanded.

_**"Unless you desire to see even more of your charges die before you, you will obey."**_ Shockwave replied. _**"As of now, you only have nine breems."**_ The image faded away, being replaced by the forms of Starstorm, Lunar and Lightstream.

_**"We were only able to save less than one-fourth of the little ones."**_ Lunar said. "_**We would have contacted Iacon but when we heard of Megatron's orders…we decided it was best for us to escape."**_

_**"We're grateful for Shockwave's assistance, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have been able to get out at all."**_ Lightstream said. _**"But…"**_

_**"He's up to something and it now involves our charges!" Starstorm said. "We may have failed the little ones in Floatila, but we can't fail this set! Please, whoever's watching this; don't let that monster find them!"**_ The video cut off at that point, leaving Prowl and the others in stunned silence.

_**"Primus…"**_ Ratchet whispered. The monitor flickered, and Jetfire's form came back on the screen.

_**"They're on the planet of Styxia-7."**_ He said. _**"And there's your reason why Shockwave's here…he wants to bring them back to Cybertron."**_

* * *

Next chapter: Elita learns the truth...

And also- Starstorm- no relation to Starscream. :p I needed a name.


	30. Reality

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Here is the chapter, once again I hate it, all this seemed to come out much better in my head, but after fighting with it for a week, this what I was able to come up with. -sigh- I can promise you though, the next one will be much better. -bow-

* * *

**_Reality_**

Two human weeks passed. Optimus was slowly regaining his strength, his wounds had healed enough for Ratchet to remove the temp-plating and solder them shut. Sideswipe had been discharged a week earlier (translation: kicked out) due to making a speedy recovery (he had gotten on Ratchet's last neural circuit) with orders to take light-duty shifts (if he went out and got into a fight Ratchet would personally reformat him into a table). Thundercracker had also recovered quite nicely, but the Seeker was keeping to himself. He'd been assigned quarters, but more often than not he was gone, coming back only for Energon and recharge. Red Alert had protested about this arrangement, but one glare from Ratchet had him falling silent.

Elita had also made a speedy recovery, bits and pieces of her memory were coming back. She had landed in a desolate area the next state over; her alt mode was a concept Corvette, her paintjob rose with several thin dark-pink pinstripes on her paintjob. When compared to Chromia in her original form, they were the same height (Elita just barely meeting her friend in the optics). But considering that she was one of the sleeker femmes, Ratchet figured the Corvette alt wouldn't hurt her-Elita wasn't complaining and Optimus (when he wasn't in recharge) had no gripes either. Shockwave still hadn't resurfaced, but that was a problem for Prowl and the others. Ratchet had his own set to deal with…more specifically, two.

The first was Bumblebee. Actually he had been second, but Ratchet had bumped him up as first priority after he dealt with Optimus and Elita. Or to get specific again-the problem of two sparkmates who were _very_ happy to see each other. The CMO knew from past experience that after long separations, Cybertronian sparkmates followed a distinctive three-stage pattern. The first part had the bonded pair often in recharge for the first several orns of their reunion, as systems and sparks readjusted and realigned with each other-the stress of the separation having abated, only leaving sheer exhaustion in its place.

The next stage was the fighting. Depending on the pair, fights could last anywhere from several breems to a couple of cycles. And it was just about always over the same thing…one sparkmate leaving-or maybe both had left-either way, there was going to be yelling and screaming. In the case of Ironhide and Chromia however…the fight had lasted _three fraggin orns. _Two of which the weapons specialist had spent recharging in the hallway (much to the amusement of his fellow Autobots). On the third orn the black mech had simply got up, blown his room door open, put a kicking and screaming Chromia over one shoulder and had tried to take her someplace private to talk it out.

The key word being 'tried'…as the silver-blue femme had gone _nuclear_. With his patience gone, Ironhide snapped as well, and Ratchet found himself advising Optimus to lock down their particular area of the Ark until things settled down…or they found Ironhide dismantled in the med-bay (there was no way in Pit that the weapons specialist was going to win. Not against Chromia). Happily for everyone though, it was the former that prevailed, which saw Ratchet having to deal with the final stage of the cycle- the 'honeymoon'.

Which reminded him, he needed to maim First Aid for giving it that nickname. Primus, one would have thought Ironhide and Chromia had reverted back to newly-minted adults-that couldn't keep their fraggin hands off each other. Quite annoying when one was trying to repair the dents in their armor caused by all the fighting. But then again, Ratchet mused, he'd known some couples who acted a bit more…_wilder_ than Ironhide and Chromia. And he couldn't exactly blame them for acting the way they had been, not when Ironhide had clearly been missing Chromia every single orn of the mission, and she him. Now Optimus and Elita however…

_Primus, that's a bomb just waiting to go off. _Understanding commander of the femme troops? The CMO snorted. At her core, Elita was a femme-clearly in love with Optimus. Duty or no duty, Ratchet _knew_ that Elita hated the fact that Optimus's responsibility as Prime and the search for the AllSpark had come before her-a violation of the oaths sworn between mates when they first bonded-

_Nothing comes before your sparkmate._

But in that vein, Ratchet also knew that Optimus hated the fact that he _**had**_ to put duty before Elita. The Autobot leader would have loved nothing better but to simply hand over his burdens of Prime to another, and to just simply live with Elita as mech and femme. But then once again, the fraggin problem with Optimus was that he was too damn _noble. _

_Doesn't tell Elita about Bumblebee because he's afraid something would happen to her-doesn't tell Bumblebee about their relationship because he's afraid something would happen to him-thinks everything is his own slaggin fault-Primus! _He blew out a breath. No use worrying about it now…nothing had happened, at least not yet anyway. He'd cornered both Prime and Elita and given them a lecture on holding off any drama-Optimus might be recovering but he was no way ready to handle a fight or the aftermath.

And Ratchet was not in the mood to weld his old friend back together (again). With that taken care of, his focus was now on Bumblebee-Chromia had reported that the little scout hadn't been feeling very at the start of the orn, and the CMO had the sick feeling that he knew just why the youngling wasn't his normal self.

* * *

Bumblebee curled up on his recharge berth as Ratchet gently put a hand on his head. The CMO scanned the spy's frame, picking up on the problem.

"Conflict with your virus defenses and a firewall." A simple enough problem, yet the fact that Bumblebee's processes were running at 85 percent had him worried. "I'll give you a patch; you should be feeling better in a couple of cycles."

"How's Optimus?"

"He's fine. But now we need to worry about you." Ratchet answered. "I'll be back with that patch." Rising from his spot, he walked over to where Ironhide and Chromia were waiting.

"How is he?" The black mech rumbled as they left the room.

"He's fine, it's just a program conflict." The yellow 'bot sighed. "That's just the physical though. The mental…"

"He's become a bit gloomy over the past several orns." Chromia said. "I asked him what was wrong, but he said it was nothing."

"It's the sparkbond between Elita and Optimus." Ratchet answered. "Prime's not doing it on purpose, but that link being reestablished-along with nothing being done for this one-it's having a negative affect on Bumblebee." He ran a hand over his faceplates. "Can you two spend some Nightfire-free time with him? It should help."

"Yes." Ironhide rumbled.

"Even if he did acknowledge the bond between them, you don't think Optimus would reject Bumblebee, do you?" Chromia asked, worry on her faceplates.

"Pit no." The CMO replied. "He's just fraggin _afraid_. He blames himself for Tygar Pax, sending him to chase after Megatron and the AllSpark, that whole mess with Sector Seven…" Here he blew out air though his vents. "He's being a slaggin bit-brain."

"You're putting it mildly."

"We'll take care of 'Bee." Ironhide said. "You just go and talk to Prime. If he doesn't tell Bumblebee soon, _I'll do it for him!_"

* * *

"We can stop if you wish." Prowl said as he shot a concerned look at Elita. As the femme's memories had started to return, the black and white had deemed it best that they record everything that she could remember, in the hope that it could help them located more of their comrades.

"I'm fine." Elita murmured. "I'm just…" She shuttered her optics. "Sorry."

"We should stop."

"No." The rose-colored femme opened her optics. "It's vague, but we were talking about meeting up with Ultra Magnus. He wanted…to get as many 'bots together as possible to go back to Cybertron…"

"Did he say why?" Prowl asked gently. Elita shook her head.

"No."

_It couldn't have been about what Mirage saw or what they ran into, this happened long before those events. _Prowl thought. Ultra Magnus had been the city commander of Iacon prior to the AllSpark being launched from Cybertron, and had been left in command of the Autobot forces when Optimus's team left to follow Megatron. The last Mirage had seen of Ultra Magnus was the incident with Shockwave on Cybertron, the commander had been part of Arcee's team.

"It seems like at some point prior to what happened with Mirage, and after we left, Magnus had to relocate the Autobot forces." The second-in-command finally said. "But we don't know how or why…" He sighed, his door-wings drooping slightly. "What I wouldn't give for Nightbeat's CPU right now." Elita chuckled.

"I'm sorry I'm not helping much."

"You're helping greatly by just telling us this information." Prowl reassured her. "But it brings up the desperate need for more troops…we can't ask Jetfire to call the Technobots and the rest of the Aerialbots, they're protecting the colony." The femme nodded, having been updated on what had happened.

"I can't believe Shockwave is after the little ones." She said, optics on the ground. "But why? What does he want them for?"

"His intentions seem good, but I'm certain that at their core, they're just as twisted as him." Prowl said, typing something into a console. "The fact that he hasn't resurfaced however is starting to become worrisome."

"Did you let the humans know?"

"They're on full alert." The black-and-white answered. "It seems when we seem to get one problem taken care of, ten more arrive to take its place…"

"Cybertron?" At this Prowl sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"That's…something I don't even want to consider at the moment." He admitted, closing his optics and rubbing his foreplate to try to relieve some of the tension gathering there. "Wheeljack and Perceptor have some valid theories, but none of them seem to compute."

"Did they ever consider the religious side?" At this Prowl stopped, one blue optic un-shuttering and looking at Elita.

"What?"

"There's another theory that could explain Cybertron's movement." Elita explained patiently. "Granted, it's not…logical or reasonable, but it's a theory nonetheless."

"You mean that myth about Primus and Unicron having fought, and the only way the matter was settled that they were both sealed away?" The rose-colored femme nodded.

"There's two endings to that story. The first is that Primus became Cybertron itself…and the second was that he created Cybertron, but sealed himself away within it." She said. "I know it's stretching the CPU a bit, but…"

"Hn." Prowl mused.

* * *

Wheeljack carefully entered the lab, blue optics immediately going over to Ratchet, who was at a console and muttering like a demon.

"'Ratch?" No response. Curious, the inventor went and looked over the CMO's shoulder at the monitor.

_It's Bumblebee's scans…systems running at 85 percent? System confliction-that was today. Probable cause… _His optics widened.

"_**Spark-neglect**?!_" At this Ratchet nearly jumped out of his armor, shutting down the console and whirling around.

"Wheeljack!"

"Who's spark-neglecting Bumblebee?!"

"It's nothing! Just a computer error!" Ratchet snapped back.

"You know there are no errors when it comes to that sort of thing!" Wheeljack's optics narrowed and then widened as a possibility hit him. "It's Optimus, isn't it?!" Ratchet started.

_Primus, why couldn't have his CPU been damaged by an explosion to keep him from being so fast on the upload?! _"Wheeljack, keep it down!"

"It's Optimus right?! He's the creator of Bumblebee isn't he?!" The scientist barked, fins flashing red in anger.

"Yes yes, but-no, no!" Ratchet grabbed Wheeljack before he could stomp off. "Don't! Think of Bumblebee!"

"I am!"

"Optimus isn't doing it on purpose!" This statement was met by Wheeljack's frame relaxing slightly. "And Bumblebee's doing fine. Some time with Ironhide and Chromia should get him back to normal."

"For the moment you mean." The white and green mech said darkly, pulling away from his friend. "Fraggin Pit, Ratchet, how long-"

"I don't know myself." The yellow 'bot confessed, shaking his head. "But I think Bumblebee was onlined during one of those weapons acquisition trips Optimus used to make. And he didn't do it with another femme-you know he'd never cheat on Elita-"

"T…then how did he-" Wheeljack stammered, his processor trying to keep up with the information.

"I think…no, he did. He used the power of the Creation Matrix." Ratchet answered. "That's the only answer." Wheeljack stared at him, optics wide.

"…Why didn't he-"

"The Decepticons. And at some point Megatron must have figured out the connection between the three of them-that incident at Beta." Was the response. "The rest…you know how Optimus is. Always trying to protect others-never thinking of himself."

"Still, this is out of control!" Wheeljack hissed, stepping back. "I can understand everything else, but this?! Bumblebee's life is at stake here!"

"I'm just as upset as you are but we can't go after Optimus with this now! Not even Elita knows about Bumblebee!" Ratchet snapped back. "He was dying, Wheeljack! Long before this happened he was_ dying, _one orn at a time! Now he's finally recovering-give it time! I'm certain after he gets things straightened with Elita he'll attend to 'Bee!"

"He needs to attend to Bumblebee now!" Wheeljack roared, fins flashing again. "Optimus has a responsibility as his creator-his _**father**_ to admit and accept that bond! Do you know how long Bumblebee's been asking us about his creator-Pit blast you Ratchet! He's Prime's _**sparking**!_"

_Clank!_

Ratchet stopped stock-still, optics widening as he looked past his friend's shoulder.

"Primus-" A feeling of dread crept its way into Wheeljack's spark, and he slowly turned around. Standing in the doorway of the med-bay was Elita, frozen to the spot-her optics never leaving the pair. A datapad lay forgotten at her feet, the source of the noise that both mechs had heard. As Ratchet watched in mounting horror, she seemed to suddenly regain her functions, turned around and ran out of the medical bay.

_Oh no…_


	31. Concequences

Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas.

-sigh- So here is 31. Would have been up sooner, but IRL intruded...to the point where I lost my job this past Friday. I've been fighting off a case of the gloomies, and I all but forced myself to get this out (though once again, I'm not happy with it) because all of you have been great in your reviews, and I know how it feels like waiting for something to update.

I just want to say thank you ever so much to Xerion, she drew this absoultely adorable picture of Nightfire. 3 If any of you want to see it, send me a message and I'll give you the URL. Also thanks to her friend Kate-chan for coloring it.

* * *

**_Concequences_**

It couldn't be true. It couldn't be true. The mantra repeated itself over and over again in Elita's processor.

_It can't be! __Optimus__ wouldn't do such a thing-he'd tell me if he had the intent-with everything that was going on… _Yet pieces of the puzzle were starting to click into place, why her spark seemed to resonate with Bumblebee's own-Optimus' behavior during the times they had been together…it had felt as if her bonded was hiding something from her, but she'd attributed it to his workload-and hers.

_He couldn't have…how could he have created a sparkling?! _While it was possible to create a spark by oneself, the normal procedure was to have a femme assist…Elita felt fear rip though her frame-Optimus wouldn't have…

"_PRIME!"_

* * *

The scream was all the warning Optimus got before his office door was blasted open. The Autobot leader had decided that he was going to try and at least get though some of the backed-up paperwork that orn, and had just picked up a datapad when Elita's scream had ripped though the Ark. Panic roaring though his processor, he'd just gotten up as Elita barged into his office, optics blazing with anger.

"Elita?" Before he could do anything, the rose-colored femme was in front of him, raising one hand.

"You son of a bitch!"

_CRACK._

"Aah!" Reeling, Optimus stumbled backwards, one hand flying up to his faceplates in shock. "Elita, what-"

"Bumblebee." Elita snarled. "Bumblebee-you created him, didn't you?!" The Autobot leader froze in shock, staring at his bonded. "_Answer me!_" But there wasn't an answer...at least not verbally. The silence-and the look on Optimus's faceplates-it said it all. Now it was Elita's turn to stumble back as if she had been struck, the realization sinking in.

"…No."

"Elita." Optimus began, reaching out for her. His hands only grabbed air though, as the femme had turned around and ran out of his office, pausing only to switch into her alt mode before speeding down the hallway. "Elita!" Now it was his turn to run out, watching as a rose-colored bumper rounded the corner-

"Prime!" Optimus whirled around, meeting the optics of both Ratchet and Wheeljack. The inventor's faceplates said it all, and the Autobot leader snarled as rage snaked though him.

"I will deal with _**you** later._" The violence in his voice had Wheeljack visibly shuddering, but the other mech's mental state was far from Optimus's mind as he shuddered into his alt mode, revving up to full speed the minute his tires hit the floor. He needed to catch up to Elita-to explain everything-it wasn't what she thought it was…

* * *

While this planet was certainly primitive, Shockwave mused, its' inhabitants could be quite surprising. Having retreated into hiding on Earth's moon (primitive the natives were yes, but after his attack on Optimus the Autobots would more than likely be tearing the planet apart looking for him, better safe than sorry), having to stay in a C.R. chamber for several orns due to the damage Ironhide and Chromia had inflicted on him, along with the blows Optimus had been able to get in.

_Perhaps it is best that I leave them alone for now. _He could always take care of the Autobots later, right now he had more pressing matters to deal with-two, in fact. _It __is doubtful__ that I'll find anything on the __Floatila__ survivors here-nor will the __Autobots__ be able to find anything for me. _Logic dictated that he now turn his attention to the other problem at hand, Megatron's corpse. While Shockwave had no love lost for the former Decepticon leader, there was the slight problem of that dark matter core…which, if it had done its work properly, had repaired Megatron's frame to pristine condition-despite having been dropped into one of the planet's deepest oceanic trenches. With a repaired frame, there certainly wasn't anything that could prevent Megatron's spark being called back from the Matrix by any loyal Decepticon…something that Shockwave wanted to prevent. The loss of the AllSpark had been reassuring, and certainly nobody was even going to _attempt_ to take the Creation Matrix from Optimus Prime (if they even could figure out that it could be used in that manner). Everything should have been settled…

Until he'd heard that a fragment of the AllSpark had survived.

And that one Autobot had dared to do the impossible…he didn't know how, but using the AllSpark fragment, Ratchet had dared to go into the Matrix itself-reviving Jazz, the Autobot Special Ops commander.

There was no choice. For the sake of his plans, no, for _everyone_, Ratchet had to be eliminated, and the fragment of the AllSpark destroyed.

_I cannot risk it. _While Ratchet would most certainly balk (and more than likely refuse) to perform the same procedure on Megatron, there was always the chance that the CMO could be forced into repeating the same miracle-with the proper incentives of course. But while getting to Megatron's frame was one thing, gaining access to the Autobot CMO was another. And because of the difficulty of the latter, Shockwave found that he needed a plan to allow him to remove the orb from Megatron's frame and allow him to dispose of Ratchet and the AllSpark fragment at the same time.

_Easier said than done, it seems. _The purple Decepticon shifted position in his seat, his processor sifting through all the variables and potential outcomes. One thing was clear however…whatever he decided to do, he would need extra help.

* * *

"Primus." Chromia murmured. She and Ironhide had returned from their exersion with Bumblebee, the yellow scout having gone to pick up Sam and Mikaela. She'd met Prowl in the lounge, reordering the duty roster for the orn. "She just blew up at him like that?"

"Whatever it was, I would not like to be Optimus right now." The black-and-white answered. "Ratchet guesses that if anything, they should be back late tonight or early tomorrow…now if they worked things out, that's a different story."

"Mmm." Chromia answered. She could guess at the reason why Elita had gone on the fritz…granted, she might not be right but considering what she'd heard… "I'm going to go get 'Fire."

* * *

Ironhide came out of the medical bay just as Chromia entered the hallway, Nightfire clicking away to her stuffed cat in his arms.

"Elita found out." He said by way of a greeting. The femme started, and then reached to take her daughter into her arms.

"How?"

"Wheeljack pried it out of Ratchet-wanted to go and yell at Prime, and while Ratchet was trying to talk him out of it, Elita came in-heard the whole thing." Chromia closed her eyes at this piece of news, talk about the worst possible way to find out… Blissfully unaware of her parents' concerns, Nightfire looked up at Chromia, clicking and showing off her stuffed cat. In response Chromia absentmindedly stroked her daughter's tiny head, gently rubbing Nightfire's receptors.

"They'll work it out." She whispered, perhaps it was more to comfort herself than Ironhide. "They will. Both he and her are stronger than this…things could have been much worse."

* * *

It hurt. Blessed Primus, it _hurt. _Biting back a sob, Elita morphed back into her original form and typed in the codes to allow her access to the now-deserted Ark. She was alone, she could weep, rail, scream-nobody was around, and nobody would care.

_How could he do this to me?! _Her bonded…another femme, a sparkling-leaving her all alone for all those millennia- dragging in air though her vents on a sob, Elita finally managed to type in the proper codes and the doors hissed open…

"Elita!" A blast of a familiar horn, and then the sounds of gyros grinding as Optimus transformed. "Elita, wait! I can explain!" Desperate, he lunged forward just as the doors closed behind his bonded. "Slag!" Snarling at himself, he typed in his own codes, rushing though the entrance as the doors opened and shut once more. "Elita!"

"No! I'm not hearing it!" To this Optimus reached out…their bond was strained but he could still-yes, there she was.

"Elita." He rumbled, rounding the corner-the femme was trying to type in a code to get into a side room, but failing. "Elita, listen…Elita!" Reaching out he grabbed her-gently, despite the fact that her armor was just as strong as his; she was so small and delicate compared to his large and bulky frame. Of course, he was rewarded for his efforts…

_**CRACK.**_

"Gah!"

"Who was she?!" Elita snarled. The tears could wait-jealous rage had taken their place. She'd get the truth out of Optimus…and then she'd rip him to shreds. There would be nothing left over for Ratchet by the time she was though. "Who was she, Optimus?!"

"There wasn't another!" Optimus protested, reaching out again-gripping Elita by both of her arms. "He's mine and mine alone! I used the power of the Creation Matrix to help me!"

"That's not possible you liar!" Elita screamed, struggling to break free from her bonded's grip.

"I swear it on my spark, it's the truth!" Optimus pleaded. "I had no help, no type of aid, nothing! I didn't even know if the Creation Matrix would allow me to do such a thing!" Elita stopped struggling, looking to the side. The Autobot leader hung his head, guilt ripping though him like a blow from one of Ravage's claws.

"I was afraid." He finally said, breaking the awful silence. "After Floatila…it had been so long. Everything…now it was only our generation-no sparklings or younglings, and even lesser femmes…I could see that everyone was slowly starting to lose hope. And I didn't want that-for without hope, we didn't stand a chance." He dragged in a deep breath though his vents. "I wanted to tell you. To help me. But if I'd asked you…and had we created a little one, the both of you would have been in danger from Megatron or any Decepticon." His voice cracked slightly. "And I couldn't…I couldn't bear the idea of something happening to you or our sparkling. Or even if something went wrong…and we lost it to the Matrix. It'd taken you so long to heal from Floatila…I didn't want to cause you any more pain. But Primus, how I wanted you _**with**_ me!" Elita shuttered her optics against the raw pain in her bonded's voice, not wanting to hear it-fighting the urge to just reach out and draw Optimus close, to soothe… The silence was almost deafening, and then it was broken again by the mech.

"So I created him and everything…" Love was there, in all its raw form. "He was so beautiful…and so tiny. I wanted nothing more to just pick him up and show him to you-he has your spark within him as well, I know I could have never created something so perfect without some part of you in it." Cheesy-sounding yes, but the honest-to-Primus truth. Optimus shuttered his own optics before opening them again, pain evident in the blue orbs. "Please Elita,you have to believe me. I never meant to hurt you…"

"Well you fraggin well did!" Now the hurt was back-the tears threatening to break though. Elita shoved Optimus away from her, optics blazing with millennia's worth of suppressed pain. "First you create him-_without me_-and you lie to me, then you _**leave**_ me-"

"I had no choice!"

"You had a choice! You always had a choice! You kept selecting your duty over me-I was supposed to come first in everything! _**Everything**, _Optimus!"

"You don't think I wanted to put you first?!" The pain was gone from the Autobot leader's tone, rage was fast replacing it. "You don't think I wanted to just stop being Prime and just have it be the two of us?! You think I wanted to leave you alone on Cybertron, while I went on a suicide mission to find the AllSpark?! _I had no choice_, Elita! And you said you understood!"

"I didn't want to understand!" Elita screamed at the top of her voice capacitor. "I didn't want to! You were supposed to stay with me! If anything, we could have performed our duties together-you should have let me come with you! Not leave me behind with Magnus and the others!"

"I didn't want anything to happen to you!"

"I can take care of myself! You didn't have to lock me up like some sort of crystal figurine-I swore to be by your side in everything! Despite any danger-anything!" The pain was screaming though her, wanting to be let out-she couldn't be this close to him anymore-her spark was aching, crying out for his own but hurt by everything that had happened- With a howl, Elita turned to run away, but was caught again by Optimus, the red and blue mech pulling her close into an embrace.

"Let me go! You bastard, release me!" Unchecked now she started to kick and punch Optimus's chest chassis-not caring of his injuries-let him hurt just as much as he hurt her! "Let me go!"

"Elita, please!" Optimus begged, wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he could. "Beloved…" The endearment broke the rose-colored femme, and the dam holding everything back shattered.

"Letmegoletmegoletme go! I hate you! I hate you-why did you leave me alone?! _**WHY**_? Wasn't I good enough for you?! Did I displease you in someway-let me go!" Unable to break free, she finally screamed, thousands of vorns worth of pain in her voice, sagging against Prime-broken-a wreck-needing that physical contact-hydraulics giving out in her legs. Optimus allowed himself to drop to the ground as well, cradling Elita as close as he could to his body-his spark, letting her cry.

"Ssssh…" He whispered, his own voice broken. "Sssh…" His own spark was writhing in pain-but the Autobot leader bit it back-this was his fault. He didn't deserve any comfort for what he had done-Elita had suffered, all at his hands-another rule of sparkmates broken-you weren't supposed to cause any pain to your bonded… "Sssh…" He closed his optics again, gently rocking the femme back and forth. "Sssh…"

Primus forgive him…what was he going to do?

* * *

AN: If you think Elita's OOC...she's had quite a lot building up in her over the past couple millenia. I think that at least allows her to have one screaming and crying match with Optimus...


	32. Restart

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of ideas. Credit also goes to Xerios and Kate-chan for the first part of this chapter, I wrote it based on the little Nightfire fanart they both did for me. :3

Also, here thar be warning...implied smut within. I should also inform you, I cannot write...well...very well, implied or actual smut to save my life...all I can say is, I tried. And I actually ended up liking this chapter quite a bit (not too sure if I wrote it well)...but the fluff shall soon be at an end.

* * *

**_Restart_**

Nightfire clicked to herself as she pondered the cubes scattered in front of her. Perceptor had discovered some long-forgotten Cybertronian learning toys that had belonged to Bumblebee in one of his lockers-they had promptly been removed, cleaned, and given to Nightfire. Babbling softly, the sparkling picked up a cube and examined it, the Cybertronian letters inscribed on its six sides flashing. She understood relating names to 'bots and things (energy, spark, and her stuffed cat being on top of the list) but her processor had yet to comprehend written words and their relationship to the things she knew. Squeaking, she offered the cube to her stuffed cat before carefully placing it in front of the plush. Several feet away from the playpen, Sunstreaker shifted the sketchbook on his lap to get a better grip on it. He was just making sure his skills didn't go rusty-it'd been a while since he'd drawn a subject, if you didn't keep practicing, you were bound to lose whatever talents Primus had seen fit to give you.

"Enjoying yourself?" He asked, watching as Nightfire continued to talk to the plush, squeaking over another cube. "If you'd keep your little aft still, I could finish this." More squeaking-Nightfire had settled for stacking the cubes in seemingly random patterns. Sunstreaker returned to his sketch, carefully shading in one part of the drawing. A small smile ghosted across his mouthplates, this was the most (non-violent) fun he'd had in a while.

"You know, you're not being a very good model." He said, setting the book aside to come over and give Nightfire a cube to hold again. The sparkling clicked in rage as one of her 'towers' was destroyed-settling for beating on Sunstreaker's armor with a tiny fist. "Hey! Mind the paintjob!"

"Mine!" The sparkling squeaked, snatching the cube away. "Mine mine!"

"That was not the problem. The problem was that I have you on the paper in a very nice pose, and if you could just hold it for five more breems-"

"Mine!" Nightfire squeaked again, diving for the cubes and scattering them all over the playpen. "Mine mine mine!" The yellow twin sighed, leaning back and rubbing a hand on the back of his head.

"Well, you've got one aspect of being a femme down-you don't listen to anyone!"

* * *

She felt drained. A frown crossed Elita's faceplates as her systems slowly rebooted.

_What…? Oh._ Her last memory had been of breaking down in Optimus's arms-crying for what seemed like cycles. The femme pushed herself back a bit; her bonded had fallen into recharge as well, hands still gripping her tightly. A small smile passing over her faceplaces, Elita carefully shifted her position to straddle Optimus, both hands reaching up to gently touch his faceplates.

_He wouldn't have betrayed me. _With the worst of the pain gone-her spark was singing in its' case, calling to Optimus's own-having him here, this close-it was intoxicating. Elita pushed those feelings aside; she'd act on them later. Right now, they had to settle a couple of things. Gently running her hands over the mech's chassis, she slowly projected herself into their bond.

_At first there was nothing. __Elita__ waited patiently, her fingers tracing gentle patterns over red and blue armor. Then a response, __Optimus__ was slowly coming out of recharge-despite the fact that either one could do whatever they wished with the bond-it was habit to wait for permission. Yet __Elita__ found herself being greedily dragged in, __Optimus__ wanting to draw her close and never let go. Sending back only a single note of comfort, __Elita__ reached out in a different direction-seeking all that had been unsaid about their separation, about Bumblebee. Despair flooded her senses at the inquiry-tinged with guilt. He'd had only meant well-had only been trying to protect them both. But she would probably hate him-leave him-and really, could he blame her? He'd failed as her __sparkmate__ in everything that mattered…_

"You idiot." Elita murmured, leaning to press her foreplate against his and closing her optics. "How can I leave you? And yes… I hated you for leaving me alone, but I hated myself more for following orders. For putting duty before us."

"I didn't want to hurt you." Optimus whispered. "I'd hurt you so much already..."

"But that is the nature of love." Elita answered. "At times, we do hurt each other-we may not mean it, but it does happen." She drew in closer. "And I hurt you as well…I left you to go on that search and rescue mission-and then stayed away." A soft rev came from her. "We have been apart for so long…that it is not unexpected for us to find ourselves here, in this situation." A shiver of delight snaked though her frame as one large and gentle hand started to stroke her back. "We must adjust to each other's presence again…" _To learn how to function as a unit again._The feel of that hand going up to stroke a audio receptor had her issuing a soft purr, opening her optics to meet her bonded's own.

"I thought…" Optimus began.

"Your problem is that you think too much." Elita said, reaching up with both hands and starting to play with Prime's audio receptors. "I was perfectly entitled to my fritz-any sane femme would be. And now I have it out of my systems-I still hurt yes, but the hurt will heal. I know that you were only doing what you thought was right-given the situation. Granted…" Here Optimus hissed as one hand-those clever fingers-decided to twist rather than caress a receptor-

"Ow!"

"You could have gone about it far better, and tried to not be so _noble-_" Another twist.

"Ow, ow!"

"But it is in the past, and now is the present. There is no reason to go back and reprocess everything." The twisting returned to caressing, and the Autobot leader bit back another rumble of approval.

"You had every right." He replied. "I have no excuses." Not a cop-out, but the Primus-honest truth. His spark was aching at just _**how close**_ Elita was once more-the feel of her armor beneath his fingers-her frame against his-he could hear her spark calling to his…it was getting very hard to focus on the subject at hand. But they had to get this done-

"Bumblebee." He managed to get out. "Elita, I…" One slender finger started to gently move across and over the outer armor that protected his spark, and Optimus lost his train of thought.

"I know. It is just that…" Here the finger paused. "Truly?" Hearing the unheard question, the mech nodded.

"I didn't think it would even let me." He murmured. "And even with its power, it was hard." The breem he had succeeded-his very first image of Bumblebee's spark was it being carefully wrapped up in a blanket by the waiting femmes before he offlined, and had stayed that way for two orns.

"He's a good 'bot." Elita's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. Again, she traced slow patterns over Optimus's chest chassis. "I would love the chance to get to know him better…if you and he are willing to have me." The mech started.

"What?" Hope flared into life; the Autobot leader didn't dare draw in air though his vents for a breem. Elita felt the emotion though their bond, and settled for hitting him on the shoulder joint. "Ouch!"

"You _bit-brain_!" Fresh anger-tempered with disbelief-_sheer utter stupidity- _", do you truly believe that I've become so sparkless?!"

"No, no!" The mech protested, shaking his head. "It's just…I thought…" Silent words passed again between them, and Elita sighed.

"Our first meeting did not go well I confess, but he is yours." She said, bringing her hands back up to cradle her bonded's faceplates. "And because I am your mate, he is also mine. We have a family unit…something that the both of us have always dreamed of having. Granted, it got started in a rather…unusual way…" A snort from Prime, 'odd' was an understatement. "But we have it. Will you have me?"

"You don't have to even ask!" Optimus replied, pulling Elita into his frame. "Primus…" His frame shuddered, and Elita settled for pulling him into her-resting his head on her chest armor. "I…I didn't…" Sweet relief was settling into his processor-she didn't hate him-she wanted him and his little brother- Elita felt this, and gently pushed at Optimus so she could look him in the optics.

_Primus, he's had too much to bear. _Her emotional subroutines were screaming at her now, forget the talk-kiss the mech already! Always one to follow good advice, Elita did so, pulling Optimus into her. It was sweet-weren't all first kisses sweet? Her spark sang with approval, calling out to Optimus's own-they were finally together after so long, and could happily pick up where they'd left off…changed, yes, but that didn't matter. They were together, and that was all she truly cared about. Optimus broke the kiss, rumbling as he straightened and pulled Elita flush to his frame. The femme purred with delight as she felt him rev against her, hands stroking her armor-feeling heat and excitement build up though their bond. Another kiss-and her being pushed back into the wall, those wickedly clever fingers of his sweeping over her frame-being swamped with his own need- Elita shuddered, her own hands reaching out greedily and doing her own caresses. It'd been too long-the feel of his frame against hers, his armor-his wise and gentle presence threading with hers though their bond, masked barely by all-consuming desire…

At some point enough was enough, and there was a muffed _crash_ as they hit the floor.

* * *

"This better?" Chromia murmured. She and Ironhide had been in one of the training rooms when one of the mech's cannons had malfunctioned, sending sparks and wiring all over the place. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as it looked, and electing to not go to the medical bay (Ratchet was on a tear as a result of what happened) Chromia had led her mate back to their room, settling the black mech in a chair while she got their first-aid kit. Nightfire had come along for the trip, and was currently settled down in a chair with her tiny Energon cube, watching the proceedings with wide optics.

"Yeah." Ironhide rumbled, flexing the fingers of his right hand.

"You really need a new frame." Chromia said, unable to keep the worry from her voice. "You're pushing it as is with all those modifications you do to yourself, all those uploads…"

" When we're better set, I'll get a new frame." The mech rumbled. "And it's just a glitch." He tested the cannon, watching with approval as it swiveled forward and then back. Seeing Nightfire staring, he smiled and showed the sparkling his right arm.

"See? When you're bigger, you get one of these. In my case, I got two, because-ooomph!" The smack from Chromia had him hissing. "Femme, what the-"

"No." The silver-blue femme said, holding up a finger. "Remember Ratchet's threat?" Ironhide scowled.

"Glitching-hey!" A punch this time.

"No cursing." Ironhide retaliated, pulling Chromia close.

"Now didn't we say no violence in front of the sparkling?" He rumbled, rising to take better advantage of his mate's frame pressed so closely to his. "And yet you're hitting me." Chromia smirked, knowing full well what the black mech was playing at.

"Keep it up and you will sleep out in the hall." She threatened, unable to keep the smile from her voice and faceplates. "And Nightfire and I will enjoy having the berth to ourselves." Ironhide grunted in response.

"Hn."

* * *

He hadn't felt this relaxed in _millennia. _He was tired beyond belief…but right now, curled up on the recharge berth with Elita (more of he was on his back, and Elita was draped all over him), everything was perfect.

"…Whose bedroom is this?" Elita finally ventured, lifting her head to look at Optimus.

"…I have no idea, to tell you the truth." Prime confessed. "I don't think we were exactly caring about where we ended up…" A giggle, and he suppressed a groan as he shifted slightly.

"Ugh…"

"Optimus?" Elita asked, immediately concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Just tired." Her bonded answered, his optics dimming slightly. "Best not to tell Ratchet about this…he'll rip my head off…"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Elita was tired as well, despite the content humming of her spark and her systems. "Can we just sleep here for now and go back tommrow?"

"That works." Optimus rumbled. Wrapping his arms tighter around the rose-colored femme, he shuttered his optics, enjoying the feel of Elita's frame curled into his.

_Bumblebee…_His CPU started the subroutines for recharge, whether he liked it or not. _Talk…__tommrow. _

AN: Next chapter...it's Bumblebee's turn.


	33. Unit

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessKnight, and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Also credit goes to Melora Maxwell.

-sigh- Again, a chapter I'm not happy with, and I feel that the ending is a bit rushed. But I've been messing with this for far too long...feel free to stone me if it does not meet up to your expectations.

* * *

**_Unit_**

He was curious. Frenzy babbled to himself as quietly as he could while typing madly away on the computer setup in his and Barricade's 'base' of operations. Thundercracker had been keeping to himself yes, but during one visit he'd mentioned that he'd heard something strange…and would go to the Matrix swearing on Primus that he had heard it.

_I know this sounds crazy, but I swear I heard a sparkling somewhere in the Autobot base. _He'd gone looking around-but had gotten derailed by Prowl and Red Alert, forcing the Seeker to call off his search temporarily. Barricade had scoffed it off once the jet had left, but Frenzy…the little hacker found his interest roused.

"Sparklinggoodgoodgood. BadbadbadiftheyAAutobotsbutgoodgoodgood." He'd only heard about the Floatila Massacre by word of mouth, though Soundwave's personal opinion had come through loud and clear-he hadn't approved at all. Frenzy supposed that was why his Creator went behind Megatron's back six times, creating him and his siblings. However, they had onlined with full-adult bodies-and had to act like such. But they knew Soundwave had no choice in the matter-loyalty be damned, if Megatron had learned the truth he would have killed them all.

"Frenzy, what are you…" Barricade stopped as he looked at the computer monitor. "Oh come on." The hacker skittered at him. "You honestly believe him?"

_**And why not?** _The silver 'bot said, switching over to Cybertronian to get his point across easier.** _It makes sense. Prime ordered-to keep the AllSpark safe-that there would be no access to it to allow any sparklings. That he was leaving that particular matter up to bonded pairs. And while the number of bonded couples did drop following Floatila…the Autobots still had more than adequately enough to at least start a slow repopulation growth again. But on their own terms, of course._**

"Of course." Barricade murmured. "Prime wouldn't have forced them on the matter." He crossed his arms. "I suppose with that, I can see the logic of those orders Megatron issued. Killing off the remaining femmes-especially Autobot femmes, where the majority of them were bonded-especially to higher-ranking officers…"

_**That was the kind of thinking that made Blackout come up with his plan, remember?** _

"Yes, and I thank Primus every day that I stayed out of that." Barricade said. "Stupid fool. That only made matters worse." Blackout had suggested-many vorns after Floatila-that the Decepticons infiltrate Iacon when it had been learned the remaining Autobot femmes had arrived at the city and were gearing up for a mission. Megatron would get what he wanted-the deaths of the remaining femmes and as a plus? The deaths of the mechs who were bonded to them-in particular, Optimus Prime. "You never frag with Elita-One, Chromia…Pit, basically any femme bonded to any Autobot officer. I'm still surprised they got out _alive._"

**_And Chromia's the only femme with them right now on this planet. _The hacker waved his hands at the black-and-white mech. _Everything's…peaceful more or less, no problems with us-the fleshbags…what would stop-_**

SHUT UP!" Barricade bellowed. "I see your point! Don't need to explain anymore!" Frenzy cackled and returned to his typing. The larger mech composed himself. "Ahem. Who was her bonded anyway?"

_**Ironhide.**_

"Oh, perfect. Trigger-happy femme and even more trigger-happy-blowing-up-planet mech. If they did spawn their offspring probably would go thermo-nuclear on the Autobots before it advanced past its first vorn."

"EeeElitaheretootoo." Frenzy jabbered, falling back into his normal mode of speech.

"Hey. Five more breems here. Suppose I go along with this crazy theory that there is a sparkling with the Autobots. What does that have to do with us?" Frenzy shrugged.

_**Good for us as a species, and…I guess something for us to know.** _

"Hn."

* * *

Optimus suppressed a groan as he transformed, leaning against the wall.

"Ugh…" Gyros clicked, and then Elita was beside him, hands gently supporting him.

"Optimus?"

"Tired." The mech rumbled. "Nothing a recharge…can't fix."

"I'll help you to our room then."

"No." Optimus winced as he forced himself to stand. "Later…I need to see Bumblebee."

* * *

The yellow spy was in his room, curled up and reading a book-cube on his recharge berth. Hearing the door hiss open, he looked up.

"Hm? Optimus!" Book-cube forgotten, he jumped off the berth and over to the older mech. "You're back-here, I'll go get Ratchet!"

"No. I just need to sit down." Optimus rumbled. He bit back a groan of relief as the yellow 'bot helped him over and on the recharge berth. "I wanted to come and see you."

"Oh, well…" Bumblebee fidgeted. "Nothing's going on, really." He wasn't that important, not when Optimus had Elita. The Autobot leader looked at his youngling, optics taking note of the solemn expression on the younger mech's faceplates, and the absence of the light and happiness that was normally bubbling over from their bond from Bumblebee's spark.

_My fault. _He'd been a coward-afraid to tell Bumblebee the truth-despite the fact that it was for his own safety. What's more, he should have settled this matter long before Elita's arrival. _Primus, I don't deserve it, but please…let him understand._

"After Floatila…" He began, optics falling to the ground. "It took forever for things to return to normal. We had…casualties outside of the city-bonded sparkmates who had a partner there, or who had a sparkling or youngling there-they died." Another blow to the grieving Autobots. "Elita…she, Chromia, and the others-we were afraid that they would die from the grief, all their friends…and then all the little ones…" He fell silent. It had been so hard to recover from the pain, even now Optimus still couldn't figure out just how the Autobot forces had made it though-still intact.

"We still had hope." He finally spoke again. "We had the AllSpark…but I gave orders that nobody was to go near it, to keep it safe from the Decepticons. There were bonded pairs that had been thinking of family units once the war was over, but…it didn't end. Everyone was starting to lose hope…" Fingers slowly curling into fists, he forced himself to look up. "If there was the presence of just one sparkling…things would look up, everyone would see that we still had a chance. But I couldn't ask Elita-her helping me would have put her in danger, because if Megatron ever found out…" The words trailed off, there was no explanation needed. "I would not betray her with another femme, so it was only me." Bumblebee had frozen in his spot, unable to move-not wanting to move-this was what he'd wanted to hear all this time but why now? Why would Optimus speak of this?

"Optimus-" He began, his voice shaky. "You don't-"

"I created a sparkling." Four little words, dammed up inside him for so long. "I told my troops I was going to one of the outposts for weapon supplies, when in reality I retreated to the lowest levels of Iacon-with my most trusted medical officers and several caretaker femmes." Silence. "It took a long time on my own, even with the help of the Matrix, and I was offline for two days after that. But when I first saw him…" A sad smile appeared on his mouthplates. "I felt something inside of me heal-something that had broken when I learned of Megatron's betrayal. And I knew that everything would be alright-that we would make it." The Autobot leader looked at his hands. "He-it was a mech-was so tiny…I'd made him. I'd created him…he had my spark, and some of Elita's as well. My baby brother…my sparkling. Primus, how I just wanted to pick him up and show him to her at that moment-to give her the joy of having a little one-or to yell out to Cybertron, 'I have a sparkling!' But I couldn't. So the femmes kept him hidden, and I visited every chance I got." He looked to the side. "I thought Iacon would be safe…but ultimately we had to retreat to _Artemis-I_, and then everyone else under my command found out." The smile was now ruthful. "Ratchet blew out my audio receptors for keeping the sparkling hidden-but after that; everything seemed to be going well. I had Ironhide become the youngling's guardian for when I could not protect him-there was danger, but overall…" Optimus forced himself to stand, going over to the window.

"I didn't want him to become a warrior, but there wasn't any choice. But I was so proud of what he accomplished-not even a full grown mech, and he was giving Mirage and Hound a run for it when it came to scouting and spying." Bumblebee couldn't help himself, he giggled slightly at the fond memories. "Sideswipe was especially proud, and showed the youngling every single trick he knew for sneaking around-something that didn't make Ironhide or Prowl very happy. And then…" The guilt came back, gleefully sinking its claws into his spark. "It soon became very clear that the AllSpark was no longer safe on Cybertron. And I needed someone to buy us time-to keep Megatron distracted long enough to eject the AllSpark out into space."

"It wasn't your fault!" Bumblebee finally burst out, unable to stay silent any more. "It wasn't! You were only acting as how a leader should!"

"As a leader yes…but as a Creator, I will never be able to forgive myself." Optimus murmured. "And then I only continued…sending that mech into deep space after Megatron-finally leaving him in the hands of the humans here…" Weary blue optics met Bumblebee's own. "I am a coward of the worst kind-I failed my sparkling, and I hurt my sparkmate. All because I was too afraid to tell them the truth-and afraid for their safety. And when that mech came to me…asking about his Creators, again I was too afraid, and I lied." The optics shuttered closed. "I don't deserve Elita's love or forgiveness-or my little youngling's own."

"E…Elita knows?" Bumblebee whispered. "And…and she doesn't…" Hope was flaring up painfully inside him. _She wants me? They want me? _A silent nod from Optimus.

"I-" But before he could say anything else, his arms were suddenly full of yellow 'bot. "Bumblebee?"

"It'snotyourfaultit'snotyourfaultitsnotyourfaultIshouldhavesaidsomethingbutIdidn't"

"What?" Optimus rumbled.

"It's not your fault! None of it is! I didn't say anything because I was afraid you didn't want me-I mean I know you kept quiet to protect me but I wondered if it was because you were ashamed of me or-"

"You knew?!" A nod.

"The AllSpark…I asked it and it told me." A muffled sob. "But…but…I thought…I thought, I was hoping that it was because of my safety, but I know I've been such a pain over the vorns…"

"No, you haven't! What would make you think such a thing?!"

"Because I'm so tiny-and all I'm really good for is for spying-and I know I was such a pain in the aft-"

"You're not a pain in the aft!" Optimus nearly roared, wrapping his arms around Bumblebee in a hug. "I would never think of you in that way-you're my pride and joy!" His spark hurt, how long had his little youngling been harboring these feelings? "Never think that way, ever!"

"And…andwhenElitacame-I mean I know she's your sparkmate, but I thought-" Bumblebee's voice hitched, and then he burst into full-blown sobs as he cuddled into Optimus's chassis. "Optimus!!"

"Sssh…ssssh." The Autobot leader rumbled softly, rocking back and forth. His spark hurt still, but it was reaching out to Bumblebee's own, gently bathing it in all the love and devotion the blue and red mech had for the younger 'bot. "You have never been a pain in the aft, and you have _always_ been wanted." Again the guilt-but before he could self-recriminate himself, a blow from a yellow fist had him hissing in pain.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare!" The threat ended on a high wail. "Just…just…" Bumblebee struggled for some self-control, everything hurt-but it was a good hurt-Optimus wanted him, Elita wanted him- "Just…_it's not your fault!_" This set off a another wail, and Bumblebee threw himself back into those arms-against that spark-his Creator's spark, filling a void that had always been there. Optimus's arms wrapped tighter around the yellow spy, his own spark all but screaming in happiness, his little youngling didn't hate him…

For how long they stayed together like that, they didn't know, but the sound of the door opening had them both looking up, Elita stood in the doorframe.

"I see you two have worked things out." A hesitant look came over her faceplates. "If…oh!" For Bumblebee had left Optimus and launched himself into her arms.

"Please don't be mad-"

"How can I be mad, little one?" Elita whispered, gently starting to rub Bumblebee's back. "I would like to be a part of your life, if you are willing to allow me in." Bumblebee looked up at the rose-colored femme, nodding. Elita smiled.

"It's okay." She crooned, letting the yellow 'bot burrow into her and cry. "It's okay. Optimus is here, I'm here." Her spark ached slightly with Bumblebee's pain, reaching out to it and soothing it with quiet harmonies. "We're together now." As if to confirm this, she felt Optimus's arms wrap around them both, comfort and security coming from her mate's part of the bond. Unspoken words passed between them-all that was needed was this moment, when creator and creation could finally recognize each other. Bonds were renewed-foundations being laid for a lifetime full of love…

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to last for very long.

* * *

"What part of no drama did you have a hard time comprehending?!" Optimus winced as a tray filled with tools came crashing down next to the recharge berth. "Hmm? Pray tell, did you turn OFF your audio receptors that day?!"

"Things…got out of control?" The Autobot leader answered sheepishly. Ratchet blew out a breath through his vents, picking up a scanner and starting to run it over his friend. Outwardly he was angry, but on the inside he was truly happy for the current turn of events. Seeing Optimus, Elita and Bumblebee together like that-it had lifted his spirits, and a quick scan showed that both Optimus and Bumblebee were starting to improve rather quickly.

_I knew he'd do it. Just needed a kick in the aft… _Thank Primus for sparkmates. However, the scans also showed that Optimus was starting to run low on energy-his reserve cells were on their last legs. It was for that reason Ratchet had chosen to officially barge in, peel Bumblebee and Elita away (while yelling angrily about his patient at the top of his capacitor) and drag Optimus to the med-bay.

"Now, I'm not going to bust you for what I saw there." He said, waving a finger at his friend. "All I can say is, it was about fraggin time, and I know you have to feel better for it." To this the Autobot leader was silent, before he looked at the yellow CMO.

"I have a family, Ratchet." He stated simply, joy/disbelief in his tone. "I have a family…" He looked down at his hands. "Am I dreaming? This has to be a dream...ouch!" For Ratchet had cracked him on the leg with a wrench. "Ow!"

"Welcome to reality." The CMO said, smirking. "In which you have a sparkling, a sparkmate, and despite those happy facts-you are about to suffer for disobeying my orders."

"You said you weren't going to come after me!"

"Correction. I said I was not going to come after you for accepting your creator/creation bond with Bumblebee, and Elita doing likewise. I am however, coming after you for the fact that you…how does Chromia put it? Oh yes. The fact that you engaged in the 'horizontal-spark-tango' when I _expressly forbade_ you to do so until you were stronger!" Optimus was stunned into silence, staring at his smirking friend.

"I…err…um…"

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"…That's none of your business!"

"Correction, it is my business. You're lucky you didn't offline!"

"How did you even find out?!" Optimus hissed. Ratchet smirked.

"Wouldn't you like to know. Now-" Here he started to poke the Autobot leader in the chest. "that all the drama is out of the way, you are not to even consider getting your hands on Elita for two weeks!"

"Two weeks?!" The smirk only got bigger on Ratchet's faceplates.

"Do you have a problem with this?"

"You're damn right I have a problem-what Elita and I do is none of your business!" The look the CMO was sending him however, had Optimus suddenly wishing he'd just kept his mouthplates shut.

"You know…" Ratchet began, carefully adjusting a tool. "Sideswipe's just been itching for some new gossip lately." The Autobot leader started.

"You wouldn't dare."

"SIDESWIPE!"

"NO!"


	34. Renditition

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessKnight, Hearts of Eternity and Violet Light for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Credit also goes to Virgo1.

-waves at everyone from a pile of tissues and cold medications- Greetings. One of my bosses saw fit to cough on me the previous Sunday, and the next thing I know, I'm down with a cold. I would have updated, but I had such a fever that I didn't even want to dare even write anything-let alone think anything out.

All I can offer is my sincere apologizes for how late I have updated. The good news is that I'm almost better-with the fevers gone, I can think normally again-which means I can write again. Consider this chapter transition from all the fluff that I have written recently.

* * *

**_Rendition_**

A frown crossed Prowl's faceplates as he looked over the information that had been sent to them by Secretary Keller.

_This is disturbing…_ He shot a look at Optimus, the Autobot leader was sitting down in a chair, a datapad in his hands.

"When did this happen?" He asked, looking up.

_A little over a week ago._Came the response. _At first NOAA thought it was a malfunction, but then the ship that it's partnered with disappeared as well…along with all its crew._

"This is the only vessel you have that can travel to the bottom of your ocean floors?" Prowl asked, looking at a set of schematics.

_Yes. I realize it sounds like a human problem, but with that Shockwave character you mentioned…_

"No, no, you were right in bringing this to us." Optimus said, leaning forward. "Our incoming arrivals should be able to help us both with this problem-the minute they've settled in we'll have them contact you." Keller nodded, and the bridge screen went blank.

"Do you think this is Shockwave's doing?" Prowl asked.

"Could be." Was the answer, Optimus re-reading the datapad. "NOAA research submersible _Alvin-_tender ship the R/V _Atlantis. _Capable of diving up to 14,674 below the ocean's surface-can stay underwater for 10 hours."

"The deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean is the Puerto Rico Trench. Megatron's remains were disposed of in the Laurentian Abyss, just off the coast of Canada." The black-and-white mused. "_Atlantis_'s last position was 200 nautical miles off the coast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamian archipelago…their last call was to report the sub's disappearance."

"That ship doesn't have enough equipment on it to even handle dragging that fragger's aft back up to the surface." Jazz noted.

"So he might go after some more…" Prowl murmured.

* * *

Nightfire squeaked with delight as Chromia carefully took a brush to her tiny crevcies and gaps in her proto-armor. Mother and daughter were at the washracks, Chromia sitting on the edge of a pool, pouring cleaning solution over the giggling sparkling. Elita was up to her audios in the pool proper, halfway into recharge. Sam and Mikaela were also present, the duo in a modified Energon cube filled with water, floating around on plastic rafts.

"You could have like all the Olympic swimming events in one of these." Sam noted. He was getting to see Mikaela in a swimsuit-no complaints from his quarter. Then he started as Mirage came in. "Whoa whoa whoa! Mirage!"

"Huh?" The sniper said, pausing in choosing a brush. "Is something the matter?"

"Dude, you have ladies in here!" Mirage blinked, why was Sam stating the obvious?

"Yes…"

"Sam, stop." Mikaela said, throwing a plastic ball at her boyfriend. "They all bathe together…they're not like us!"

"But Elita…Chromia…Prime and Ironhide…" The brown-haired boy spluttered out.

"Ironhide doesn't care who I bathe with-as long as they're not 'Cons." Chromia said, settling Nightfire on a raft and gently pushing her out into the pool. The sparkling squeaked and eagerly started to paddle around.

"Same for Optimus." Elita said, sitting up and waving Mirage over. "If you think we can reach every place on our bodies, then you have another thing coming." Mirage smiled at Nightfire as he entered the pool, handing Elita the brush.

"Can you get this part on my shoulder-ah, much better." He flexed the joint as Elita gave the brush back. "Hound should be coming in any minute now…" As if being summoned, the green scout stumbled in, covered from head to foot in mud, twigs and small tree branches sticking out of his armor.

"Don't mind me! I'm just going to the racks real quick!" He ducked into the shower room.

"I better go help." Mirage said ruefully, flicking some solution at Nightfire. Getting up, he followed Hound.

"I need to see 'Bee about something." Sam said, swimming over to the makeshift ladder. "I'll see you later."

"See you." Mikaela watched as her boyfriend left, then the sound of squeaking had her attention going back to the pool. Nightfire had discovered her rubber duck, and was clicking to it excitedly as she floated alongside it.

"I still can't believe Ironhide helped create something so adorable." Elita remarked, and then ducked a brush thrown at her by Chromia.

"Ah, that's something I've wanted to ask you guys." Mikaela said, sitting up. "I know…well, Ratchet explained how…" A flush crossed her cheeks. "you guys err…get together…"

"That's putting it mildly." Chromia noted.

"But…how do you know that the one you picked…well -was the one? You know, your sparkmate?" Both femmes were quiet, pondering how best to answer their friend's question.

"It's different for those who do have a mate." Elita finally said. "The first time I saw Optimus…my spark sang. I felt something click into place inside me, and I just _knew _he was mine." Chromia nodded in agreement.

"I confess…the breem I saw Ironhide, I wanted to drag him someplace private and sparkbond then and there." She said slyly. "However, the fragger tried to act territorial on me!"

"What did he do?" Mikaela asked, curious.

"For starters, he told Optimus that whenever they were back at Iacon, unless it was a dire emergency, everything Autobot related would be second priority until he 'acquired' me! Then the bastard saw fit to come up to me-"

"At the firing range-" Elita cackled.

"At the firing range, and goes: 'You're mine.' I say: 'Beg pardon?' He goes: 'You're going to be my sparkmate-your spark's been calling out to mine from the moment we first met.'" More laughter from Elita.

"That sounds so cheesy!"

"Wait, it gets better. I can't lie to him and say no, my spark isn't interested in yours because it was! Pit, I wanted to jump him!" Chromia said, her optics flashing. "So I informed him that while my spark may have wanted his-to have me as his sparkmate was a privilege, not a right-and that if he wanted it, he was going to have to _**work**_ for it."

"Which he did." Elita got out in-between giggles. "She made him work his aft off…as her friend, I naturally had to help her train him, of course."

"Which stopped the minute Optimus started to approach you, thank you for ditching, traitor." The rose-colored femme smiled, fond memories resurfacing.

"He was so sweet. Cyber-flowers, poems, High Grade…"

"No need to make him jump though the hoops?" Mikaela got out though a gigglefit.

"The first morning after is a doozy though." Chromia commented, picking up Nightfire and letting her snuggle in. "It takes almost forever for your systems to adjust."

"The only problem Optimus and I had were with our firewalls." Elita said. "Everything else pretty much fixed itself over the following orns."

"You guys have honeymoons?"

"It can be called that, yes." Chromia answered. "You have to do it-how else can you work all the bugs out?"

"Or in your case, trying to send Ironhide into oblivion." Elita cracked.

"That's it." The silver-blue femme said, rising and getting out of the pool to place Nightfire under the dryer. "Your aft is mine!"

"Do Decepticons have the same thing?" Mikaela asked. At this, Chromia stilled, and Elita discreetly coughed.

"Not in front of the sparking, Chromia." She turned her attention back to the teenager. "Decepticons…differ quite a bit when it comes to matter of the spark. They don't believe in being faithful to one's chosen partner-"

"They don't believe in having just one partner period." Chromia interjected, gently wiping off Nightfire with a soft cloth. "Nor do they have any shame about it."

"Autobots are more private when it comes to this type of thing." Elita admitted, shrugging. "And more formal-it's very rare to see a Decepticon sparkmate couple, simply because the Decepticons believe that love or any other emotion of that type is a weakness. And weaknesses get you killed."

"How sad." Mikaela whispered. "I can understand to a point…they're putting on a show. I did the same with the guys I used to go out with. I wanted a 'tough guy' and they wanted a 'hot chick'. It was all about appearances-but appearances don't get you anything in the end." Elita nodded.

"It's not our place to judge other Cybertronians over their personal choices." She shot a glare at Chromia, who returned it in kind. "The war has split us as a people so far apart that it will take generations for things to merge smoothly into one again-if Primus permits it. If not, we must learn to accept the differences in each other-find something common that unites us, and then move on."

"Wow." Mikaela said, awed by Elita's eloquence. "It's easy to tell you're Optimus's sparkmate…you sound just like him." The rose-colored femme shook her head.

"I could never handle the burdens he bears. His spark is stronger than my own…all I can do is offer him support. And even then, I fear that I come up short in that regard."

"No you don't." Chromia countered. "You support him just fine. Me, all I have to do is make sure mine doesn't go off and do something stupid."

"Yes, that's your responsibility."

"What was that?!"

* * *

Frenzy jabbered to himself as he snuck though the ventilation system. It had been an adventure, but he'd made it to Autobot City without the help of Barricade or Thundercracker.

"Seeseeseeif'Crackerwasrightright." It had been easy getting past the security systems-another reason why he'd chosen this frame. Once in, he'd had to resort to tracking down Ironhide's femme the old fashioned way…the Autobots' new computer looked like something he didn't want to play with. Not yet anyway.

"Femmebotssupposedtobehereherehere." Here being the washracks. The silver hacker dropped down through the vent and scampered behind a large stack of cloths, blue optics peering out from behind the fabric. He could hear voices-yes, that was Elita-One and Chromia-another voice, that was the female squishy that attacked him! Frenzy hissed in anger, he had yet to begin revenge for that insult.

"Pppayback!" Before his CPU could go trotting down that happy path, the sound of contented clicking had Frenzy pausing. "WhatthePitthat?" Curious, he skittered forward-being careful to hide behind the cloth stacks and bottles of cleaner. As he advanced, the clicking grew louder and louder. Finally, when he emerged from behind yet another stack of cloths and saw was making the noise, the mini 'Con stopped, all optics wide.

"Primus!Flybotrightrightright!" In front of him, snuggled into several cleaning cloths was Nightfire, curled up into a ball under the air jets, purring happily away as she recharged. The silver hacker babbled in amazement, carefully sneaking over to loom over the sparkling, scanning her frame to make sure it wasn't a trick. Still not convinced, he carefully poked the baby 'bot with one finger, jumping back when Nightfire twitched.

"NeedneedtotellBarricade!" Babbling to himself in excitement, Frenzy turned to leave…

And found himself locking optics with Chromia, who was coming over to pick up the recharging Nightfire. The two stared at each other for several seconds, and then Frenzy saw fit to describe the situation.

"Ohshit."

* * *

AN: The stuff on NOAA-true. The sub _Alvin_ is publized as being the only one who can go to the deepest levels of the oceans-but there are several other subs who can perform the same duties.


	35. Crazy

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Credit also goes to VioletLight.

Once again, I offer no excuses for the delay-all I can say is that I finally was able to get rid of my cold (everything went in the back of my throat, fun) and then I got sidetracked by some other fic ideas. Then while I was typing this out, Frenzy took over and well...here's the result. I'm personally really not happy with this, but I've went too long without updating this, so here it is.

* * *

**_Crazy_**

Prowl considered the datapadd in his hands.

"Going on Jazz's theory, there are several other deep-ocean submersibles with handler vessels that Shockwave could acquire."

"Pass that information onto Jazz and Secretary Keller-though I'm afraid we may be too late." Optimus ordered. "Then-" A rumble had him stopping, the lights flickering as the floor shook. "What the…?" Sirens went off, and Red Alert's voice came over the comm system.

_Decepticon__ breach!_

* * *

Nightfire screeched as she was swung up into her mother's arms, clicking in rage from being rudely awoken. Chromia paid her daughter's temper tantrum no heed, optics scanning the surrounding area.

"Come out you skittering bastard!" She snarled. How dare that piece of Decepticon scrap go near her sparkling?!

"Optimus and the others are on the way." Elita said from behind her, gun out and at the ready. Shifting Nightfire into the crook of her left arm, Chromia summoned her own plasma cannon, aiming it into the room.

"Come and take it like a mech, mini-'Con!" Hidden behind a stack of cleaning supplies, Frenzy hissed at the insult. Had this been a different situation, he would have jumped up-screeching and dispensing whirling electric death on the Autobots. But he couldn't do anything-he needed to contact Barricade to get him-after he got out of the city. The only problem with that was he was trapped in here…with one crazed femmebot after his lugnuts.

"Stupidstupidstupid!" Hissing, the silver 'bot snatched a white cloth and jumped up onto the cleaning supplies, waving it back and forth. "Trucetrucetruce-waaaaahhhhhh!!"

_**BOOM.**_

"Time to die!" Chromia roared; her spark singing at the thought of impending anarchy. She fired off another blast-resulting in Frenzy screaming again and making a run for the shower room.

"Trucetrucetruceyoucrazybit-" The insult was cut off as he slammed into a white and blue foot. Screeching in outrage, the silver hacker jumped back up-

And meet the optics of one very angry Mirage.

"…Eek."

"YOU!" The sniper roared.

"Mirage, try to trap him!" Elita bellowed. She took Nightfire from Chromia's arm as the sparkling screamed in rage. Mikaela she'd placed on a nearby shelf for safety-away from the rampaging Chromia. There would be no calming the silver-blue femme down unless Ironhide came,her sparkling was safe, and Frenzy was in thousands of pieces. The latter-considering the fact that they had a Decepticon all but living on base with them-was a bit of a bad idea.

"Aaaahhhh!!"

"Hush little one, it's okay…" The rose-colored femme crooned, stepping back towards the washrack door. Footsteps pounded outside-the door hissing open.

"What the Pit's going on?!" Jazz's voice.

"Frenzy-he got in here and discovered Nightfire!" Hearing her name, the sparkling screamed again not liking the current situation. She'd been recharging comfortably-all nice and warm when she'd been snatched out of her slumber-the screaming and gunfire was too harsh for her little audio receptors-all she wanted was her nice warm spot back.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

"Where's Nightfire?!" Ironhide bellowed, tearing into the washracks. His optics darted to Elita-and the wailing bundle of dark-blue wires. "Chromia?!"

"Shower room!"

* * *

"Little skittering bastard!" Mirage snarled, reloading his rifle.

"He's gone off my sensors again!" Hound barked from his hiding spot behind one of the showers. "How'd he get in here?!"

"Your guess is as good as mine!"

"diediediediedie!"

"Whoa!" The green scout ducked as several ninja stars whizzed past the spot where his head had been. "Primus!" Frenzy snarled and aimed his tiny machine guns, firing away at Mirage's hiding place. Then he yelped and made a run for a nearby vent as Chromia came roaring into fray.

"I see you!"

"Waaaaggghhh!" The silver 'bot went flying as a plasma explosion ripped the wall to pieces, landing with all limbs splayed out. Jabbering madly he attempted to get into another vent, but the somewhat-safe haven found its end via another plasma blast from Chromia. Having no choice now, Frenzy darted across the room, barely two steps in front of the gunfire that was being aimed at him.

"Stop running! You'll only die tired!" The silver-blue femme roared. Uttering one last screech of rage, Frenzy divebombed into the one remaining vent-and proceeded to run like Unicron himself was after him-deep into the air circulation system.

"Slag! Red Alert, target is in the environmental systems-I repeat, target is in the environmental systems!" Hound snapped.

_Stand down!_ Came the order from Optimus. _Mirage, Hound, report to the control room. _

"But we can't just-" Mirage protested.

_It's alright, Mirage. Ratchet has a plan to draw him out._

"That fragger is _mine_, Optimus!" Chromia snarled, optics starting to flicker red. "You hear me? I want his _head_ to display on my wall!" Another snarl escaped her vocalizer as Ironhide came up behind her, grabbing her by the arms. "Let me go!"

"Nightfire's terrified, Chromia!" The black mech snapped. "I want his fragging head too-but you're scaring her!" As if to punctuate this point, Nightfire started to wail again.

"WAAAAHHHHHH!!" This was enough to snap Chromia out of her battle-rage, and breaking free from her mate's grip she hurried outside.

* * *

Thundercracker looked at the monitor.

"…It sounds like something he'd do." He finally ventured. "That was one thing about Shockwave-if he needed help, he'd get help-and wouldn't care where he got it from."

"He'll need at least three more of these submarines." Barricade rumbled, tapping on the computer console. "The fleshings have probably alerted the Autobots by now-but naturally it could be too late at this point."

"Not to mention that he'd need them to run the machines…" The Seeker mused. Looking around, he noticed the distinct absence of a certain coffee-sucking jittery hacker. "Where's Frenzy?" Barricade lifted his head, glancing around.

"…Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him for a couple of cycles."

"…Frenzy being quiet?" Thundercracker ventured. He and Barricade looked at each other for several moments, and then the computer console lit up.

_Bbbaricade__Gggetmemeoutoutouthereherehere_

"Frenzy!"

_Autoautoautobotstryingtokillkillmegetmeoutgetmeout_

"Where are you?!" Barricade barked.

_AutoautbotCity! _There was dead silence for a minute, and then Thundercracker clapped his hands over his audio receptors as Barricade exploded.

"WHAT IN THE PIT ARE YOU DOING THERE?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FRAGGIN PROCESSOR?! I SHOULD LEAVE YOU DOWN THERE-"

_nonononono!_ The black-and-white bit back a snarl-blast the skittering hacker to the Pit and back!

"Just get out of there-we'll come and pick you up!"

"Whoa wait-" Thundercracker had removed his hands from his audio receptors. "We? How the Pit did I get in this?" Then he stepped back as Barricade shot him a look that promised a long and painful death. "Nevermind."

* * *

Frenzy hissed as he disengaged from the terminal port. He'd dropped out of a vent to access a computer console-now all he had to do was get out in one piece and tell Barricade what he'd learned. As he was preparing to jump back up into the ceiling and skitter out-his sensors picked up on a very familiar aroma. Any and all thoughts of escaping, sparklings, even crazy Autobots flew out of Frenzy's processor-

"coffeecoffeecoffee!"

* * *

Prowl couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"…You are joking, correct?"

"Nope." Ratchet said cheerfully, watching as Mikaela poured out several cups of the dark liquid. "Sam and Bumblebee's stunt was useful in more ways than one. This'll get the little fragger out of hiding."

"But…that's not…" Prowl protested, his computer trying to make sense of what the CMO was doing.

"Don't Prowl, you'll only give your systems a glitch. Where's Nightfire?" The black-and-white shook his head, seeing that it was best to follow the yellow mech's advice.

"With Chromia and Ironhide. She's still pretty upset over what happened-they've been trying to get her to calm down for a while now."

"Good luck with that." Mikaela noted. "She was screaming something awful when I left-but you really can't blame her…" She stepped back from the coffee setup. "I'd be upset too if something like that happened to me."

"It seems he broke in here-with the intention of seeing if she actually existed or not." The statement had both Mikaela and Ratchet looking at Prowl.

"What?"

"He didn't hack any of our computers-instead, he just happens to show up in the washracks…right next to Nightfire. Doesn't seem like much of a spy job, now does it?"

"Primus…" Ratchet murmured. "While I'm inclined to go with Bluestreak's point of view on the matter in general, that just doesn't sound right."

"You don't think that Decepticon had anything to do with it, do you?" Mikaela asked worriedly.

"It's hard to tell at this point without sufficient data." Prowl said. "I'd like to think so-but it would be better if we had actual confirmation."

* * *

"Waaaahhh!! Waaaaahhhhh!!"

"Nightfire, hush…" Chromia crooned, gently bouncing the upset sparkling in her arms. "Please darling, it's alright…"

"AAAHHHHHH!!"

"Here." Ironhide rumbled, wrapping a blanket around his daughter and offering the stuffed cat. "Try this…" Nightfire's response was to click angrily and throw the plushie to the ground, wriggling inside the soft material. "Nightfire-"

"AAAAAHHH!"

"This is my fault." Chromia said, her tone upset. "I fritzed out and scared her-this is all my fault!"

"Don't you start." Ironhide rumbled. "It's over and done with-and Nightfire will settle down soon." He took his daughter from his mate's arms, not flinching as little fists and feet pounded against his chest. "If you ask me, you acted pretty controlled-if I'd been there, there wouldn't have even been anything remaining of the washracks."

"Still…" The silver-blue femme murmured. Nightfire screamed again-and then started to quiet, the soothing sound of Ironhide's pump slowly lulling her into relaxation. Sniffling, she snuggled in as close as she could get to that reassuring beat and spark-pulse, sticking several fingers in her mouthplate and blinking her optics tiredly.

"There." Ironhide whispered. "See? Everything's alright now…you're safe, your mother and I will take care of you. We won't let anything bad happen to you-that mean 'bot's going to get taken care of." No response, save for a tired 'click' from the sparkling. Shuttering her optics she let her frame relax, the higher functions of her CPU gladly shutting down for some much-needed rest.

* * *

Several floors up, a sheepish Frenzy was looking up at both Prowl and a smirking Ratchet. The hacker gulped, coffee forgotten as he un-subspaced his white towel and held it up.

"Tttruce?" This resulted in Prowl lifting an optic ridge.

"Truce? This coming from you?" The hacker nodded. "Why, pray tell?""Nonononomorefightfight. Onlywantedtoseesparksparkling." The towel was waved more energetically. "Trucetruce." Prowl shot a look at Ratchet, who stepped forward-gun in hand.

"Hands up."

"Waitwaitwait!" Frenzy jabbered. Dropping the towel, he quickly downed the coffee that was next to him, and then picked back up his towel and looked up at the medic. "Kkkkkk."

"Primus." Prowl muttered. "Did he just-"

"Yes he did. Move it, you." Ratchet ordered.

"Bbbarricade coming."

"We'll handle that. Be grateful you didn't get your head taken off by Chromia."

"Jjjjustwanted to see sparkling!"

* * *

AN: Credit goes to JediRose 13 for the 'run' line, and Teletran-1 for the 'whirling electronic death' line. They were just too good to pass up.

Next chapter: Barricade shares what he knows with the Autobots, and Shockwave finally reappears...


	36. Wrong Turn

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Also, a thank you to VL for the beta help.

* * *

**_Wrong Turn_**

Barricade resisted the urge to swear loudly and profusely, transform, and beat something into a pile of scrap. He and Thundercracker had just received an Autobot transmission via that fragger Prowl-_ordering_ him to pick up his partner who had gotten caught by Optimus's idiot squad easily. And the Saleen knew that there was only one way to capture Frenzy without loss of life-or body parts.

_I'm going to kill him. I'm going to rip his limbs off and beat his head with them! What in the Pit would he want at Autobot City anyway?!_ Turning off the highway, he headed into the desert, finding the hidden path to the Autobot base with ease-one trip prior he had memorized it. Above him, Thundercracker dropped into a dive, leveling out over the black-and-white.

_Do you want me to go on ahead?_ He texted.

_Yeah, go for it. _Barricade replied. _If anything, the son of a glitch actually ended up doing something useful-I needed to speak to the Autobots anyway._

_It's that time, huh?_

_In more ways than one. _As Thundercracker shot off, Barricade gunned his own engines. The faster he could get this over with, the better things would be…somewhat.

* * *

Optimus was internally praising Primus for the presence of Nightfire. Frenzy had calmly gone to the brig-where he had then informed Prowl that he had only wanted to confirm something Thundercracker had said in passing. The Seeker had heard a sparkling somewhere on the base, and while Barricade had scoffed it off, Frenzy had gotten curious…resulting in him hitchhiking out to the desert (oddly enough, Red Alert had checked-there was no body count) and bringing about the current situation. The focus of all the current drama was currently still in recharge in Chromia's arms-happily preventing her mother from going ballistic. Not that Optimus could blame here, but then…

"So you're just going to let them find out about Nightfire." The Autobot leader had to really give it to the silver-blue femme, she was really keeping herself under control.

"As insane as it sounds, Frenzy honestly didn't mean any harm." He said, keeping his voice low as not to awaken the snoozing sparkling. "And even if he was planning something-it would only be him and Barricade-maybe Thundercracker, but that's it." Chromia wasn't thinking as a warrior right now, but as a Creator. And upset/angry femme Creators were literally worse than Unicron himself.

_No wonder why there were never any problems on Floatila. Heads probably got ripped off and handed to the troublemakers before anything began! _Chromia sighed, shifting Nightfire in her arms. The sparkling squeaked, purring happily as she snuggled into her mother.

"I'm sorry for my actions. Just…when I saw…"

"No one faults you. Though the next time somebody screams for a truce, you would do well to honor it." Optimus said firmly. Chromia nodded, cradling Nightfire even closer.

"We're not being lax in our defenses." Elita said. "As a fellow Cybertronian, Frenzy did have a right to know of Nightfire's existence. So do the others." She looked at her mate, who nodded. "I believe that order by Megatron-with his death, has been scrapped."

"I would have preferred it to be on my own terms." Chromia countered. "I speak for Ironhide also in this matter." Steel was in her tone-she didn't like this situation one bit.

"It will be on your terms from now on." Elita answered, feeling approval from Optimus though their bond. It was a small price to pay for Ironhide and Chromia's behavior. The silver-blue femme nodded. A content click had her looking down; Nightfire was curling up into a ball, clicking happily away.

"Aww…" Elita crooned. "Such a little Avatar, or maybe a Earth angel. All she needs is a little halo and a set of little mechanical wings…"

"She'll be like this for another cycle or so." Her friend murmured. "Then I need to feed her and give her to Ratchet for her lessons."

"I think you might want to forget the lessons for today." Optimus said.

* * *

Bluestreak watched Frenzy gabber to himself.

"He talks more than me-and that's saying something!"

"I'm still trying to process the coffee drinking." Prowl declared.

"Don't, you'll only glitch out your CPU." Ratchet snapped, running a set of scans on the silver hacker. "Just take it at face value." Frenzy skittered.

"Ssssureyou havenononomoremore?"

"_No_ you crack addict!" The CMO barked. "Your systems are running far beyond their normal rate-how in the Pit do you process the liquid?!"

"Wwwwouldn'tyouliketoknow!" The mini 'Con cackled. Settling down, he watched the three Autobots. "'Cadecomingcomingcoming?"

"Yes. He should be here in several breems." Prowl said, settling for picking up a datapadd and pen.

"Thinkthinkthinkhewantstotalktoyouaboutsomethingsomething."

"What?" Bluestreak asked, curious. Frenzy considered his audience, and then settled down on the recharge berth, crossing his legs.

"BoutboutFloatila. Ssssomethingyouyouyouneedtoknow." He perked up as the doors hissed opened and closed, and then squeaked as Chromia came into view.

"I need to see him for a breem." She requested. "And no Prowl, I'm not going to fritz out…I just want to ask him something." The black-and-white considered this for a moment, and then nodded. Chromia watched as the trio left, and then turned to face the cell.

"…Did you have any intent to hurt my sparkling?"

"Nonononono!!" Frenzy jabbered. "Nohurtsparkling!Justwantedtoseesee!" He spread all four hands beseechingly. "Cancanrelatetoyou. Soundwavecreatedmeandothers. SecretlyliedtoMegatron." Chromia's optics widened at this.

"What?"  
"WeSoundwave'sCreations. lookgrownupbecausewehadto. IfnotMegatronkillallofus." The hacker explained. "SoundwavenocareaboutMegatron'sorders. Inocarecare. Barricadenocarecare. Thundercrackernotcarecare. Many Decepticonsnotcare. BadifsparklingsAutobots,butgoodthey around." The silver-blue femme stared in amazement at the Decepticon-this was too good to be true, but how…

"Is this a trick?!" She demanded harshly. Frenzy shook his head no.

"SwearsweartoPrimus. Swearonsparkspark." His blue optics looked at Chromia's own intently. "Sparklingsparklingsafesafe."

* * *

Optimus watched as the Saleen Mustang pulled up in front of him, gears and gyros grinding as the transformation started.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Where is that little fragger?" Barricade snarled as his body settled into place. "No wait-screw him, you and I need to talk."

"Well, that's rude." Jazz countered, coming up behind the Autobot leader. "After all you an' him have been though-"

"This does not concern you, Autobot."

"Jazz, it'll be alright. Let Prowl and the others know that Barricade will be picking up Frenzy after I've spoken with him." Optimus rumbled. "I trust that this is important, Barricade." The black-and-white smirked, coming up close to the Autobot leader.

"Regarding your…late brother and Floatila…" Optimus's optics widened. "I would consider this _**very**_ important." The smirk only grew wider as the red and blue mech turned, stiffly barking out an order for Jazz to take his post and jerkily gesturing for Barricade to follow him into his office. Once the door had hissed shut, he turned to face the black-and-white.

"Talk." Seeing as how he was on dangerous ground, the Decepticon found it best to get straight to the point.

"Your brother wasn't behind the massacre. Something else was." Quickly he recounted his story-the rumor of something happening to Megatron just after the war started-the incident in the medical bay-the mysterious ball, and what it could be doing. To this Optimus listened…shell-shocked. Of which Barricade couldn't blame him, he'd be stunned also.

"I realize this is hard to believe, but there's proof. I'd bet my spark that Shockwave's here for that thing-he doesn't care about bringing Megatron back from the dead."

Optimus had heard enough. He got up from his chair and strode towards the window.

_Primus… _His CPU and spark were in turmoil-grief warring with self hate. If only he had known…disbelief…what hated the Cybertronians so much to kill what they treasured most? His bond with Elita suddenly flared into life-he could feel her gentle presence, reaching out to him, trying to soothe his pain. Barricade fell silent, aware of the internal struggle going on within the Autobot leader.

"…I'll get Frenzy." He finally ventured. "I know this is a lot. You know how to contact me." Turning, he exited the office just as Elita came hurrying past, having felt her bonded's distress.

"Optimus?" Her own spark was aching. "Optimus, what's wrong?" When no reply was given, she hurried over to the large form of her bonded. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Elita…" Was the harsh reply. "_Primus…_" Instinctively the rose-colored femme wrapped her arms around her mate's shoulders as Optimus crumpled into her, doing everything in her power to soothe the sudden pain that was gnawing away at her mech. "Barricade…Megatron…oh _Primus_, if I'd known…"

"Known what?" Elita asked. "What did Barricade tell you?" The red and blue mech shivered, shuttering his optics.

"We were wrong." He finally got out, his voice nothing but a whisper. "About everything."

* * *

Chromia was silent as she looked down at her computer console, CPU still processing the conversation she'd had with Frenzy several cycles prior. She had read about this sensation, the one that humans described as 'having the rug pulled out from under your feet'.

_An apt description for what's going on right now…_ Elita was with Optimus, from what Chromia knew so far, Barricade had dropped one Pit of a bombshell on the Autobot leader. The silver-blue femme could relate, her conversation with Frenzy had been just as equally shocking. If they had known of the inner turmoil the Decepticon faction had suffered shortly after Floatila, the Autobots could have easily won the war then and there.

_Though it was probably a good thing we didn't find out. We wouldn't have acted…very honorable. _She sat back, sighing. So many things had gone wrong, and still were going wrong…

"You're making me depressed." The femme arched as a pair of black hands started to run down her sides, a familiar presence making itself known in her CPU. "I don't do depressed very well."

"Mmm…what do you do well?" Chromia purred, leaning more into the impromptu massage. Ironohide smirked, whispering his answer in Cybertronian. This resulted in him getting punched in the chest, and he grunted as the blow stung.

"Ow."

"Pervert." The silver-blue femme accused, a smile on her faceplates. "Bad mech…very bad mech." The weapons specialist grinned; those two words normally preceded one of his favorite phrases.

"Where's the runt?" He rumbled, running his hands over his mate's sleek frame again.

"With Bumblebee…though I have to pick her up. I thought taking her out for a little field trip would be nice…just to the Ark and back, I need to get something from there."

"You don't have to leave right away, do you?" The hopeful tone had Chromia biting back a crack of laughter.

"Tonight, darling." She promised, pulling away from those wickedly clever hands. Ironhide sulked as the femme gave him a quick kiss on the cheekplate, watching as she headed out the door.

"Slag…"

* * *

Barricade bit back a sigh as he entered the Decepticon hideout. Normally he didn't mind being the bearer of bad news or bombshells, but this was different.

_Primus, I'm tired. _The idea of a quick nap was appealing-Frenzy had elected to stay behind with Thundercracker-not trusting his partner's mood after yet another coffee incident. The duo had promised to be back in a several cycles, which meant Barricade could enjoy blessed solitude. Systems already starting to shut down for recharge, he opened his room door…

And found himself against the wall less than several seconds later, systems screaming alerts and the pain receptors in his body howling as a plasma blast ripped into his frame.

"ARRGGHHH!" The hulking purple form of Shockwave slowly made its way into his point of view, gun hand still smoking from the recent blast.

"Barricade. I would say it is good to see you again, but it is not."

"You!" The Decepticon wheezed, trying to get up but failing. "How…why are you…gaaahh!" He choked as purple fingers wrapped around his neck, choking him as he was pulled up to dangle helplessly in the air.

"Logic dictated what your course of action would be after Megatron's death. Really Barricade, you are not a hard mech to figure out." Came the monotone reply. "I should thank you though."

"For…for what?!" The black-and-white gasped out. Shockwave tilted his head to the side, that one yellow optic regarding his fellow Decepticon's form.

"Why, for the location of the Autobots, of course." Barricade's optics widened, but before he couldn't say anything he was hurled to the side like a piece of scrap, and the last thing he remembered hearing was the gear-grinding sounds of a transformation-the whine of a plasma cannon…

Then everything went black.


	37. Nightmare

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. I also want to thank Violet for betaing again for me

_Intimacy _should be updated by Wednsday at the latest.

* * *

**_Nightmare_**

Things were going far easier than he expected, Shockwave mused as he disabled the Ark's security systems and entered the spaceship. When the situation seemed to be going so smoothly, it was either the result of a very well-thought out and flawlessly executed plan…or a trap.

_Illogical. That is my battle programming having calculated a possible result of this scenario._ Barricade had been left in no condition to call for help, his two cohorts were far away, and the Autobots were too busy with the humans to even notice or care about the three Decepticons.

_While there is a higher chance that the fragment of the AllSpark could also be at Autobot City, there is a 20 percent probability that the Autobots could have hidden it here. _Ordering his drones to spread out, the purple mech activated a searchlight and started to walk deeper into the ship. The sooner he could acquire both the fragment and the Autobot CMO, the faster he could return to his temporary base and check on the progress of his new drones. While being extremely primitive-as was almost every machine on this planet-they had gone about their work rather feverishly and quickly.

* * *

Elita methodically went though the datachips on her desk, but her CPU wasn't fully on her work. She was still trying to deal with the shock of what she had just learned from Optimus.

_Primus…_ At first she was tempted to not believe, but when thinking about it, what Barricade had apparently seen and heard started to make sense, along with her own memories of Megatron's behaviors. The Floatila massacre had taken the war to an entirely new level, and Optimus had been Pit-bent on blaming himself…

_"No!" Elita had snapped, optics blazing. "Don't you dare, Optimus! This is not your fault!"_

_"But…"_

_"Are you Primus?! Are you aware of everything that is going to happen? No! You didn't know, so it's not your fault!" Her mate shuttered his optics._

_"He was my…"_

_"Optimus, you did everything you could. You were the best son and brother anyone could ask for! You said it yourself that Megatron started to draw away from you and your father..." Elita urged. "You couldn't have done anything more-it was on his shoulders. He could have come to you-declared a cease-fire." The Autobot leader didn't say anything, but opened his optics._

_"Elita." Optimus whispered. But the femme was resolute, unbending. _

_"No. I will not let you blame yourself." Not when it had been also the fault of others. The Council of Ancients had been to blame, Alpha Trion, Creator of Optimus and Megatron, Megatron himself…the war had started because of problems between those factions._

"And if anything, this happened after the war started." Elita murmured to herself. Everything had happened so quickly-Megatron had killed the Council in an attempted…what was the human term?

_Coup d 'etat. Quite the accurate description. _The Decepticon forces had come out of nowhere, giving the Autobots precious little time to rally. Things had been so chaotic that Elita was surprised the whole mess hadn't imploded during the first few orns. The only other time things had gone so horribly wrong had been…Floatila. And according to Barricade, things had gotten just as bad on the Decepticon side following the massacre.

_I'm surprised we made it though as it was. _Elita could remember Optimus's presence-never leaving her side, his presence comforting hers, assuaging her grief and giving her hope. Ironhide had done the same for Chromia, and so had the remaining bonded mechs done so for their grieving mates. Battered but not broken, the Autobot femmes had rallied back. Of the Decepticon femmes however…nothing had been heard.

It had been that eerie silence from their darker counterparts that made Elita give the orders for the femme contingent to separate from the Autobot forces and venture back onto Cybertron, in the hopes of finding _any _survivors. But this brought a new set of problems. Megatron had continually sent his forces after their small teams-hoping to strike crippling blows against the Autobots by killing off the remaining bonded pairs. His ultimate aim was for the death of her…for if she died, Optimus would have died along with her. And without Optimus, the Autobots wouldn't have lasted for long against the Decepticons.

_Maybe…that was a bad move on my part. _That had been the first of the long separations-when she'd started to chose duty over love. It wasn't completely Optimus's fault for the state of their relationship-half of the blame was equally hers. He'd had nobody to turn to for comfort-to unburden his spark. As his mate it was her responsibility to offer him a haven from the world when it was too much to bear, and Primus only knew Optimus had been given more than he could have handled. The rose-colored femme was grateful for this second chance to be with her beloved, and that things had been…repairable. If only the same could be said for their world…Elita's optics darkened, her CPU flashing back to another time-another friend that now only lived in her memories.

_"Lunar's worried about something." Lightstream said. For the Autobot leader of Floatila, this was a rare trip outside of the floating fortress to Iacon. She was with Elita now, walking down one of the hallways._

_"Worried about what?" Elita asked. "Have there been any problems?"_

_"No, everything's quiet. It's…regarding something that one of the Decepticon spies found when we sent a group to that outpost one of your teams found not too far away from us."_

_"It was abandoned, correct?" _

_"Had been for a while." Lightstream answered. "But the data-" She paused and then stopped to look out one of the large window banks on the side. "Did you know that Senator Jhiaxus was one of her Creators?"_

_"No, I didn't." Elita said. "I heard of him…he and Optimus's father never got along."_

_"They didn't." Lightstream murmured, her optics shuttering halfway. "In fact…before his death, Lunar told me that she remembered him and Alpha Trion having a horrible shouting match. Over what, she never found out."_

_"What does this have to do with the outpost though?" Elita queried, unable to see the connection._

_"There were several data-discs there that belonged to Shockwave." The rose-colored femme started violently at this. "We were only able to decode a little bit, but even that small part was disturbing." She looked at her counterpart. "Apparently, Shockwave was trying to find something out about Alpha Trion."_

_"I see." Elita whispered, stunned. "If you wish, send the data to us…I'm certain we can decrypt it for you." Lightstream nodded, and resumed walking once more._

_"Thank you."_

Elita shook her head.

_That's odd. Why did I think of that just now? _She lifted a hand to her foreplate. _What would Lightstream's information have to do with this? Or Optimus's Creator? _She hadn't known Alpha Trion personally, but she had most certainly heard of him. The mech had been…eccentric, to say the least.

_He was always in the background…Optimus and Megatron in the front. Nobody could ever figure out what he was thinking-which resulted in many of the Council members assuming he was up to no good. _The femme's optics narrowed, how had she gone from trying to figure out just what could have controlled Megaton-to the fears of a lost friend?

_Elita!_ Optimus's text had her head snapping up. _Report to the main-control room now and take over-I'm leaving with Ratchet and Jazz._

_What's wrong?!_

_We just got an emergency transmission from Thundercracker. Shockwave's back and he just attacked Barricade._

* * *

Chromia smiled down at the squeaking Nightfire as she punched in the codes to gain access to the Ark.

"This won't take too long, sweetheart." She crooned as the doors opened. "I just need to pick up a little something, that's all." Nightfire squeaked again in delight, her giggles cut off as the doors sealed shut behind her and Chromia, seals hissing into place. Chromia laughed as well, cuddling her daughter close as she headed deeper into the spaceship.

"Are we having fun?" There was a happy squeal of response, and the femme smiled. The most wonderful sound in the world to her was the giggling of her sparkling. She just needed to get some data from Teletran-I, an errand that would only take several breems at the most to accomplish. Teletran-II at Autobot City hadn't been connected to its original counterpart back on the Ark, and so Chromia had elected to come and copy some badly-needed data onto a disc for transport back to the city and their new supercomputer. Clicking at Nightfire, she shifted her daughter to one arm while reaching to type in the security code on one of the doors with her free hand.

Behind her however, a small silver drone watched her every movement, its one red optic fixed on her silver-blue form, feeding the data in real-time over a private frequency.

* * *

Shockwave stopped stock-still as the images were fed directly into his processor by the drone.

_Chromia. Mate of Ironhide, the Autobot weapons specialist, and close friend of the Prime. _He tilted his head, his yellow optic focusing and un-focusing as the significance of what was being shown made itself clear in his processor. _A sparkling. _Ordering the drone to run self-diagnostics on itself, Shockwave did likewise. But there were no errors in any of his functions…or the drone. The Decepticon scientist froze where he was stood, debating what his next course of action should be.

_I must continue searching for the AllSpark fragment. _But here was a golden opportunity-a live sparkling and a femme. The data he could acquire from them both was precious beyond imagining-their uses many for his plans. _Or… _The purple mech nodded slightly, approving of the idea that had just formed in his processor. _Yes. That will work just fine. _

The drone stiffened as it received a new set of orders. Once the upload had finished, it, along with its other fellows made for the door that Chromia had recently passed though.

* * *

Ratchet stepped back from the recharge berth, letting First Aid start the finishing work on Barricade's injuries.

"Fraggin good thing Frenzy found him when he did." He muttered darkly, wiping his hands on a rag. "He would have bled out otherwise-and then things would have officially gone to Pit and then some."

"It doesn't make sense that Shockwave would attack one of his fellow Decepticons, sir." First Aid ventured, not looking up from the delicate job of working wires back into Barricade's frame.

"Doesn't make sense to us, but makes sense to him." The yellow mech grumbled, stalking over to a sink. "Just start praying we can find that no-good bastard now and end this." Washing his hands quickly, he strode over to the 'bay doors and walked out…

Only to get jumped by a skittering mass of arms and legs.

"Howhowhowhowishehehehehe?!"

"Off!" Ratchet barked, throwing off Frenzy. "He's fine. Give him a few orns of rest and he'll be back to normal."

"When will he wake up?" Thundercracker asked, having taken up position against the far wall, leaning back into it with his arms crossed.

"Give him a couple of cycles-what the Pit?!" The alarms had gone off, lights now flashing dark red instead of their normal white. "What is-"

_Ratchet!_

_Elita?! What's-_

_You have to get out to the Ark now! Optimus and Jazz have already left-they need you to help control Ironhide!_

_Control Ironhide?! What for?!_

_Chromia just sent out a distress signal-she's under attack by Shockwave's drones! _The CMO felt everything in his frame freeze at those words.

"Oh Primus…" He whispered.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Thundercracker snapped. Then he found himself jumping back as Ratchet immediately transformed, wheels burning rubber the minute they hit the ground. "Gah! What the-?!" Frenzy, who had hacked into the communication, jumped on the Seeker and started to stab him with his fingers.

"Gogogogogogo!! Transformnownownow!"

"Ow! What for?!"

"Ssshockwaveafteraftersparkling!"

* * *

Nightfire screamed as one of the drones advanced on her hiding place. In answer, Chromia lashed out with her energy whip, ripping the skinny little 'bot to pieces.

"Stay away!" She snarled, her optics starting to flicker red. Unfazed and fearless, the remaining drones scrambled to block the exit, effectively cutting off the only escape route the femme and sparkling had. Summoning her shoulder-mounted chainguns, Chromia was quick to scoop up the wailing Nightfire into her arms, pressing the sparkling as tightly into her frame as possible.

_Where in the Pit did they come from? _Her processor was going over every single action she could take-but with the presence of Nightfire, her options were effectively cut in half. _I could blast them and try to make a run for it, but I don't know if there are more than this set!_

"A wise move." The monotone voice had the silver-blue femme freezing, optics widening as she clutched Nightfire even closer to her chest, as if she could press her daughter into her spark itself.

_Oh no. Oh Primus no. No, no, no, no, no!! _

"Perhaps becoming a Creator has…stabilized you somewhat."

_No Primus-please-anything, anything but him, no!_

"If anything, this is a rather pleasant surprise." Nightfire uttered a wail of distress, feeling her mother's spark pulse in turmoil instead of the soothing calm that she was normally accustomed to. Chromia found she could not speak-could not do anything to stem the tide of rising fear that threatened to engulf, frame and spark-not him-anybody, _anything _but him.

Her prayers were soon discovered to be unanswered, for at that moment Shockwave appeared in the doorframe, his one optic passing over the Autobot femme-and the precious cargo that was burrowing into her chassis. Apparently finding no fault, he nodded.

"Good." Raising his gun arm, he took careful aim. "You will fit very well in my plans."

It was then at that moment, Chromia felt everything in her unfreeze-her vocal processors were faster than the rest of her frame-mouthplates opening in a desperate scream…

_"**IRONHIDE**!!"_

* * *

The howl of fear and pain ripped though Ironhide's spark, forcing him out of his Topkick mode-mindlessly he screamed, a ghostly echo of Chromia. Dimly he could hear Optimus and Jazz-hands grabbing at him, demanding to know what happened, what was wrong- The black mech doubled over as another lance of pain stabbed into his spark-Nightfire-she was terrified out of her processor-

"**_SHOCKWAVE_**!!" He roared, anger giving him strength-he was off the ground, cannons activating. Unicron would have his spawn back within the cycle-he'd send the monster straight to the Pit… Seeing the familiar purple form he roared again, locking on. This time, there wouldn't be any mistakes…

"**AAAAAAAAHHHHH**!!"

But the scream had him stopping stock cold-now it was his turn to feel the fear ice though him-his worst nightmare coming true right before his optics. Lying limply at Shockwave's feet was Chromia, umoving-her part of their bond silent. And dangling from her scruff-bar in the Decepticon's outstretched grasp, reaching out to him was Nightfire, tears streaming down her faceplates.

"Dadddaaaaa!!"

* * *

AN: -holds up a white towel- Please don't kill me, I can't update if you do!


	38. Cruel Intentions

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow some of their ideas. Also thanks to VL for betaing for me and beating back fever-induced ideas (yep, I'm sick again.) One part of this chapter is homage to her fic.

On another note however...I haven't addressed this and I was hoping I wouldn't have to, but here it is. 1) I don't own Transformers, I'm just borrowing them. 2) While I may not be able to claim 1/2 of the ideas used in this fic, I do claim what is my own, and Nightfire is most definatly one of them. I do not mind fanart of her, any author in their right mind appreicates having fanart of their stuff, but for anything else that involves her, **_please_** ask my permission **_first. _**I've worked too hard on her and just...no. Ask first if you want to use her, it takes less than five minutes to access my profile page and send me a message.

That is all. Now I return you to the fic, if it seems disjointed like I said, I was sick when I was working on this. But considering the nature of the cliffhanger of the last chapter, I felt it best to struggle though and update.

* * *

**_Cruel Intentions_**

Nightfire didn't understand what was going on. She had been nice and comfortable in Chromia's arms when all the loud noises had started. Then she had been separated from the soothing pulse of her mother's sparks, and the silver drones with their one red optic had frightened her. When she had finally gotten back in Chromia's arms, the strange feelings twisting her mother's spark had only upset her even more.

Then everything had suddenly fallen down, and the bond with her mother had gone silent. Frightened now, Nightfire started to wail, her spark reaching out for the soothing cool fire that was Chromia's. But there still was no response, and then that big purple 'bot with the terrifying one optic had appeared, picking her up by the scruff-bar. Darkness threatened to overwhelm Nightfire's baby spark, and she started to scream. She didn't understand this, where was her mother? Why wasn't she responding on their link? In agony her spark reached out, screaming for her father's-but there was no response. As the 'bot carrying her started to move, Nightfire curled her arms and legs into a tight little ball, still sobbing in despair. Occasionally she'd see the silver-blue frame of her mother being dragged behind by drones, and this only upset her further.

But then her optics caught sight of a familiar black color, and a blazing wave of reassurance washed over her. Recognizing the presence, Nightfire wailed again, wriggling in Shockwave's grasp, little hands reaching out.

"Dada!" She sobbed, vainly trying to reach Ironhide. "Dada, dada, dada!" Why wasn't her father doing anything? She wanted him, not this strange mech! Ironhide in turn did not dare move, his optics never leaving his upset sparkling.

"Ssh, Nightfire…" He whispered, fighting back the fear-he couldn't give in-he had to stay stable and calm for his daughter's sake. _It's okay, little one. Everything will be alright. _Again his optics fell to the unmoving form of Chromia-once more he had to fight back the paralyzing dread of their dead link-she couldn't be dead, she couldn't be dead…

"A red letter day, it seems." The monotone voice of Shockwave had the black mech snapping out of his stupor-his optics fixing again on the wailing bundle of dark-blue wires dangling cruelly from one hand. "It should defy logic, but then it seems to make sense. The two most feared Autobots in Optimus Prime's forces…softened by a sparkling."

"Put her down now." Ironhide rumbled, struggling to keep his temper-now the fear was gone, rage fast starting to replace it. "She has nothing to do with this situation!"

"On the contrary." Shockwave replied, slowly drawing back his arm. Nightfire howled in terror, struggling even more to reach out to her father. "Your mate and sparkling now have everything to with the situation at hand, Ironhide." As the terror-stricken Ironhide watched, Shockwave nodded to one of the drones next to Chromia. The tiny silver bots swarmed over her prone form, and before Ironhide could do anything she disappeared-relocated to another area by an orbital bounce.

"No!" The black mech started forward, but Shockwave was quick to hold him off by dangling Nightfire over the drones. "You bastard!!"

"_**DAAADDAAAAA**_!!"

"Ironhide!" Gear-grinding sounds of transformations-and then shocked gasps.

"You Pit-fragger, release her now!" Jazz barked. Shockwave seemed to smirk.

"I am not as sparkless as you make me out to be, Autobots. If you wish the femme and sparkling back, you will turn over your CMO and the fragment of the All-Spark." Ignoring the shocked gasps, Shockwave calmly stood still as a beam of light appeared over him. "I will contact you in 4 cycles as to where this exchange will take place." Ironhide snapped out of his stupor and lunged forward-

Only to grab empty air as both the purple mech and his sparkling disappeared. With Nightfire's wails still echoing in his processor and the image of his unmoving mate-the deathly silence on their link-Ironhide felt all his fear and frustration rise to the surface-he'd just stood there and let it happen-

"**_ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH_**!!"

* * *

Onlining hurt. Not that Barricade wasn't used to pain-he was a Decepticon after all. Pain was an everyday fact of life.

"Gah…"

"Take it easy." The gentle voice of First Aid said, pressing him back onto the berth. "You had a real number done to you." The black-and-white obeyed, shuttering his optics halfway.

"Where…where…"

"The Ark. Ratchet went out with the others to help." Was the response. "But don't you worry about them-worry about yourself. Especially with your situation."

"My situation." Barricade repeated. "What situation, pray tell?" The Protectorbot crossed his arms.

"Your sparkmate." Then he grinned as the Decepticon nearly face-faulted off the berth. "Surprised? We can tell these things."

"How in the Pit-"

"How to treat bonded pairs is a major class in Autobot Medical." First Aid responded. "You're lucky Frenzy found you in time." The black and white fell silent. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. And I'm guessing the reason for your surly behavior a good majority of the time is because you're missing her, correct?"

"Shut up." Barricade hissed. Unbidden, an image of Flamewar came to his processor. He'd not seen her since their separation on Cybertron-countless vorns ago. To his knowledge they'd been the only bonded pair in Megatron's army…something that had started as simple lust had turned into something more. "It's none of your business."

"Out of curiosity, is that where you got your motto from? Her?"

"If you know what is good for you, Autobot-"

"No, no, I'm not teasing you about it! Rather, I think it's very sweet! Autobot mechs do something similar for their bonded femmes as well."

"That's information I really don't want to know!" Before First Aid could reply, a monstrous roar had them both looking up. "What the Pit?"

"Ironhide!" The white and red mech replied, running to the main doors.

* * *

"Ironhide, please!" Optimus begged, having pinned his old friend to the floor. "Just calm down! We'll get them back!"

"LET GO OF ME!"

"Going on the fritz is not going to help you get Nightfire or Chromia back!" Ironhide struggled even more, snarls escaping from his vents. "Ironhide, don't!"

"LET ME GO-I HAVE TO GET TO THEM!"

"If you go like this you're only going to play into Shockwave's hands!" The back mech struggled, and then went limp.

"I failed them." His voice was hoarse. "I failed them-I just stood there and let them be taken away!"

"You couldn't do anything." Jazz rumbled, kneeling next to his fellow warrior. "If you'd tried something that Pit-fragger would have killed them right in front of you."

"Chromia…I couldn't…"

"Stop that." It was Optimus's turn to rumble, this time dangerously. "You know your sparkmate, Ironhide. You know Shockwave couldn't kill her that easily. She's more than likely in stasis lock, and when she awakens, he'll have Pit itself to pay." The pain in his friend's voice tore at his spark, to watch your mate and sparkling be taken away in front in your optics… "We'll get them back, Ironhide. I swear to Primus we will."

"You could give him what he wants." Ratchet said quietly. Then he stepped back as Optimus reared abruptly, spinning to pin him with that blue glare-the blue flickering into red.

"Don't you _**dare**_ suggest such a thing! Never!" The CMO took a step back from the barely contained fury in his friend's voice. "That is not an option!"

"Optimus, no." Ironhide whispered, slowly standing up. "Please…don't." He released a shaky puff of air from his vents. The Autobot leader straightened, shuttering his optics and fighting for self-control."

"We are not trading anyone or anything for them. The chances are high that Shockwave would not come though on his part of the bargain, or we would be giving him a greater advantage over us." He said, opening his optics.

"But Optimus, we know why he wants Ratchet and the AllSpark fragment…it's because of me." Jazz said. "If you guys hadn't-"

"You deserved it Jazz." Ironhide murmured. "And don't you dare say otherwise." The Special Ops officer fell silent, his shoulders sagging.

"It still ain't right though."

* * *

Shockwave considered the scanner in his hand.

"A stroke of luck indeed." He murmured, going over various readings. On the lab table in front of him was the femme sparkling, wailing at the top of her voice capacitor. Chromia was nearby, strapped down to an examination chair and still offline. "Perfect condition, but of course one could not expect any less of the Autobots." Nightfire only cried harder, curling up into a tiny ball as tears trickled down her faceplates. She was cold-everything was scary, and she wanted her mother!

"Mama, mama!" She sobbed, her tiny frame shaking. "Mamaaaa!!"

"This 'Mama' set of syllables must be what Autobot sparklings refer to their femme creators as. The 'Dada' set must also be what they call their mech creators." The Decepticon scientist mused. A sound had him turning around; Chromia had onlined and was struggling against her restraints. "Ah. Welcome back."

"Get away from her!" Chromia hissed, her hands fisting. "So help me you slag eating bastard, if you lay one finger on her it will be your end!"

"It is illogical for me to want to harm your sparkling. Not with the current state of our race."

"You bastard, you're one of the reasons why the state of our race is so bad right now!" The silver-blue femme snarled, her optics starting to flicker red. "You murderer!"

"While I regret my actions at Floatila, in my defense I had no choice in the matter." Shockwave answered calmly. "It was either follow Megatron's orders or die. There was no logical reason for me to give up my life." He turned his attention back to the crying Nightfire. "As it stands now, you and your sparkling will be most useful in helping to rebuild our species."

"Leave her out of your twisted plans!" Shockwave ignored this as he resumed his scans on the sparkling. The stress was having a detrimental effect on her tiny systems-exhaustion and hunger setting in. Her spark was also fluctuating wildly-attempting to reach out to her femme creator's most likely.

_Hm. The data from their interactions would be useful. _Pressing a button, Shockwave ignored Chromia's gasp of surprise as the bands on her arms loosened-to be replaced by tighter ones around her legs and one locking around her waist.

"What the-"

"**_AAAAHHHHH_**!!" The scream had Chromia nearly breaking her back to get out of the chair; Shockwave had picked Nightfire up by the scruff-bar. Terrified, the sparkling had curled up into the tightest possible ball she could, tears falling from her optics. "**_MAMA_**!!"

"You bastard!" Chromia screamed. "You put her down right now!" Then she started as the sparkling was set on her lap. Sensing her mother's spark, Nightfire wailed again and burrowed as deeply as she could into Chromia's chest chassis, her little frame shuddering with sobs.

"Mama mama!" In return Chromia wrapped her arms tightly around Nightfire, bending over to get as close as she could to her daughter's tiny head.

"Hush hush, its okay…" She crooned. Her spark sang to Nightfire's own, pouring all the love and devotion it had into their link, soothing the paralyzing fear that was gripping that young spark. "Mommy's here, baby."

"Mama." Nightfire sobbed, pressing herself as close to that pump-beat and spark as she could-trying to get back to that warm light-away from all the darkness that had been around her… Chromia responded in kind, her arms wrapping even tighter around the sparkling's delicate frame.

"Just what in the Pit do you want with us?" She finally hissed, lifting her head to meet Shockwave's one-optic gaze. "We're nobodies now! The war is over!"

"On the contrary." Shockwave answered. "You and your sparkling are not 'nobodies'. What you will accomplish for me will be nothing short of legendary."

"Legendary?" Chromia repeated, feeling a chill pass though her frame. Nightfire only snuggled in closer, her tiny hands clutching at the silver-blue armor underneath her. "What in Primus's name are you talking about?"

"While your sparkling is too young for my plan, you on the other hand are perfect."

"What plan?!"

"The revival of our race, of course." Shockwave answered. "Starting with you…having produced one sparkling, I'm sure you're quite capable of producing others."

* * *

Next chapter: Chromia...gets angry.


	39. Rage

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas.

Right. It is 1:16 in the morning, and I'm not very happy with this chapter. For the past two weeks I've been sick-last Sunday found me in bed with fevers, hot flashes and coughing up my lugs. Monday I found out it was broncitus, and for the rest of the week I was pretty much out of it after I came back home from work. I didn't want to leave this dangling though, so I've spent the past 4 hours working on this chapter from scratch. If anything, I'm probably going to go back over it when I'm not tired and maybe revise a couple of things, but here it is. Please have mercy on me. 

* * *

**_Rage_**

Chromia didn't say anything, but clutched Nightfire as tightly as she could against her chest. Seeing the action, Shockwave paused in his calculations.

"I have no interest in you that way." Turning his back, he resumed typing on the console. "Even with the predicted influx of offspring from the colonists, there still would not be enough sparklings to suit Cybertron's needs. Therefore other steps need to be taken."

"What kind of other steps?" Chromia finally ventured. "There's only two ways you can create a spark-with your bonded mate or with the help of the AllSpark!"

"Then there is the process of inducing a spark to split off from itself." Shockwave countered. He turned now, facing Chromia and the shivering Nightfire. "Spark mitosis. The process itself seems to be easier-and quicker when a spark that has already created offspring performs it."

"Lay one hand on me and Ironhide will rip out your still-beating spark and make you eat it!" The silver-blue femme snarled. Unnoticed by Shockwave, she was testing her restraints-trying to see if she could rip free of them.

"I am being polite and giving you a choice." The Decepticon scientist said. "If you chose not to help, then your sparkling will take your place-" He moved within range of Chromia. "When she's older-and has met the requirements of course." Chromia froze at those words. Involuntarily she clutched Nightfire even closer to her, gripping her daughter so hard that the sparkling squeaked in pain. Then the moment passed, and her optics narrowed.

"You son of a bitch!" Tearing metal followed this statement, the chair collapsed as the silver-blue femme ripped free of the restraints. One arm pressing Nightfire as close as possible to her frame, she reached out with the other-scabbing over a nearby table for some type of weapon. Drones swarmed into the room, but Chromia paid them no heed as she found what she was looking for.

"I'll rip out that optic and give it to my daughter to use as a marble!" She snarled.

* * *

_**Calabi-Yau**_

Jetfire winced as he pulled himself from his landing spot on the deck.

"Everybody alright?" He called out.

"More or less." Skydive grunted, brushing the remains of several drones from his frame. "Primus, who's fraggin idea was it to install an EMP inside the ship?!"

"That would have been…" Jetfire paused. "Huh. I forgot who had the idea. Ouch."

"A little warning would have been nice!" Silverbolt snapped, gingerly grabbing at one wing.

"Would you have preferred to have gotten skewered by the drones then?" Jetfire countered, helping the Aerialbot leader to his feet. "Damage report?"

"The little glitches got to the slagging power relays." Skydive reported, having made his way over to the console. "It's going to take us an orn to fix-all thanks to your little side trip, Jetfire!"

"I'm a scientist! These worlds have so many new things to explore!"

"Yes, and thanks to that, Shockwave's little fraggers found us." Silverbolt remarked.

"Better us than the colony." Jetfire retorted. He started typing on a console. "If anything, he's still on Earth, and Optimus and the others are keeping him there."

"Yeah-but for how long?" Skydive snapped.

"Skydive!" Silverbolt ordered. The Aerialbot fell silent. "Jetfire, only an orn right?"

"Faster if we start working now." The grey and red Autobot said, pulling off a panel. "Even though we're a planet away from Earth-those drones were too active for my liking. Shockwave has to be up to something that's bigger than this."

"What could be bigger than the colony?!" Silverbolt exclaimed.

"I'd like to know, but then there's a part of me that doesn't want to." Jetfire responded. "Now give me a hand!"

* * *

Ratchet shut off the monitor, turning away from the console. Ironhide was in the medbay-being monitored by First Aid, and Barricade was in recharge.

_Primus, this is my fault. _He'd been praying that his…sin wouldn't come back to haunt them, but that prayer just seemed a little too much, apparently. _I didn't mean to! I just…I just wanted to fix him!_

_It had started with the two halves of Jazz's frame. He had only wanted to piece them back together-so he'd at least be whole again for internment. As he'd spent cycles slowly reconnecting wires-soldering metal back into place, replacing circuit boards-the shards of Jazz's spark had caught his optic. He'd gathered them up, placing them gently on a cloth that was on a side table._

_What he hadn't noticed at the time was that the container holding the AllSpark was next to the table. And it was something that he wouldn't notice as he finished Jazz's body-wouldn't notice until he was starting to dress it for the funeral rites._

_"What the…" Shocked, he went over to the table. There was Jazz's spark-whole again. "How in the Pit…" Not noticing that the AllSpark fragment was starting to glow softly, he picked up his friend's spark, turning his back to the container. If anything-he could put it back in its rightful place. Advancing on the motionless silver frame, he gently started to put the spark back in its chamber…_

_And then the next thing he remembered was waking up to the worried faceplates of Ironhide, Optimus's voice booming something in the distance. The CMO had looked around-trying to get his bearings, his optics landing on the twitching form of Jazz-wait._

_Jazz was moving? But…Jazz was dead! Yet there it was, in front of the shocked optics of Ratchet…the Special Ops officer was purring away in recharge, occasionally twitching. The Autobot CMO didn't know what happened-all he'd wanted to do was fix his friend's body…_

"Primus, forgive me, I didn't mean to." Ratchet whispered. "Please-I did not want to trespass on Your domain…" Yet how could he regret it? They'd gotten Jazz back-a relief to all of them, and Ratchet hadn't wanted to think about the matter again. He didn't remember doing _anything_, and he had told Optimus as much. He could understand Shockwave asking for the AllSpark fragment but for him…he was useless.

_I can't…because Optimus is right. If I gave myself and the AllSpark fragment over-there's a chance that bastard wouldn't keep his word. And the leaders of Floatila…they suspected that Shockwave wanted their sparklings for some reason. But what in the Pit would he want to do with them? _A skittering noise had him coming out of his stupor; Frenzy had appeared and made his way towards a computer console.

"Frenzy?" The silver hacker ignored him. "What are you doing?"

"TtthinkIhavewaywaywaytofindfemmeandsparkling." Frenzy hissed. "Shockwaveusedorbitbounce-easytototrack!" He started to type madly away on the keyboard.

"You can find him?" Ratchet exclaimed.

"Inothinkhehavetimetosetthingsuproperly.Mustuseprimitivemachineshere!" Silver hands waved in the air. "Gogogogetcrazybot!Mustmustmovequickly!"

* * *

Chromia struggled, but it was to no avail. The drones swarmed over her-pinning her to the ground, biting into her armor. Her attempt to gain freedom had ended in quick retaliation-Nightfire being pulled away from her-she couldn't see her sparkling now, not with her head being pressed into the ground…

"That was highly illogical of you." Shockwave said from above her. "I allowed you time with your sparkling-gave you a choice in your situation, and this is how you repay me." He gestured to a drone. "The experiments will begin immediately upon my return. Tie her back down-and put the sparkling in the containment box."

"NO!" Chromia screamed, struggling to get up.

"MAMA!!" Nightfire howled as the drones scampered close to her, curling up in a little ball as they clicked at her. "MAMA, MAMA!"

"Leave her alone!" Chromia screamed as she found herself being dragged away. "Don't you dare touch her!"

"MAMA!" The sparkling screamed as silver legs dug into her, and started to pull her away. "_**MAAAMMAAA**_!!"

* * *

Some things are universal. Despite the many different species in the galaxy-no matter what the origins are-many things still remain the same. One of these constancies is the power of a mother's feelings towards her child. Stories echo from planet to planet of mothers gladly sacrificing many things-even their lives for their children, and Cybertron was no exception.

Another constant was the fury of females. Earth wasn't the only planet that had a quote for the occasion-and again, Cybertron was no exception. "Pit hath no wrath a femme scorned" was the expression-

And Shockwave was about to find himself wishing that he hadn't inadvertently decided to test the truth of this statement.

* * *

Time seemed to stop. Shockwave paused-something in the air just didn't feel right. Logic centers at a loss, he turned around…just as something went _**SNAP.**_

_Curious. What is…?_ A snarl broke him out of his thoughts, Chromia had thrown off the drones holding her down, and she was crouched close to the floor. Her body was shivering violently-fingers now crooked into claws almost, and as she lifted her head, the Decepticon scientist found himself stepping backwards. Instead of blue, the femme's optics were red as human blood. Seeing him, a snarl escaped her vocalizer before she lashed out at the drones covering Nightfire. The sparkling wailed, quieting as Chromia snatched her up, crooning something in broken Cybertronian before gently setting her down on a high table.

Then the lights went out, and the last thing Shockwave would remember were those red optics.

* * *

Ironhide suddenly sat up on the recharge berth, his optics un-focusing slightly.

_Chromia. _His spark pulsed-their bond was active again-but something was wrong. He didn't know what it was, but something had happened. Standing up, he headed over to where Optimus and Prowl were looming over Frenzy, the black-and-white turning his head.

"Ironhide?"

"Something's happened with Chromia." The black mech stated simply. "Find out where she is. _**Now**." _Before Prowl could reply, Frenzy started hissing and screeching, jumping up and down and pointing at the screen.

"Fffoundthem! Theyhereherehere!"

* * *

It had been too easy. Two orbital bounces later found Ironhide, Optimus, and Prowl found themselves looking at a Cybertronian-sized building on a rocky island in Hudson Bay, just west of Quebec, Canada.

"Primus, he sets himself up fast, doesn't he?" Prowl muttered, un-subspacing his gun. Ironhide didn't say anything, but activated his cannons and started moving forward. "Ironhide, no!"

"Don't, Prowl." Optimus cautioned, reaching out and grabbing his second-in-command by the arm. "Leave him be."

"But he'll-"

_You know when it comes to Chromia he won't listen to us! _Optimus texted. A roar had his head jerking up.

"Optimus!" The two mechs rushed over to where the weapons specialist was standing.

"Oh my…" Prowl murmured. A large hole had been ripped in one of the building's walls-and inside, wires and lights were dangling from the ceiling. Puddles of silver with tiny red balls in them were the remains of the drones; furniture was either ripped into pieces or riddled with bullet holes. "Was this…" Ironhide didn't answer, but stepped inside.

"They're here." He said. "I can feel them both."

"I'm not picking anything up on scans." Optimus reported. "And…_what in the name of Primus is that?!_" Near an open door was a purple gun-arm. Prowl hurried over, picking up the limb and scanning it.

"This is Shockwave's!" He exclaimed. "It's been ripped clean off…" Ironhide's optics narrowed, and then widened.

"Prowl, look out!" He roared, reaching out and dragging the black-and-white from his spot-just as an energy whip sliced the area where the other mech had been standing.

"Primus, what is going on here?!" Ironhide didn't answer, instead stepping into the shadows where the attack had come from.

"Chromia." He rumbled softly. "Love, it's me. I'm here." A snarl was the reply, and as Ironhide activated one of his headlights, Optimus and the shaken Prowl finally could see what the black mech was looking at.

Red optics glittered at them as Chromia crouched into a battle position. Safe in her arms was Nightfire, purring happily away in recharge. Around the silver-blue femme were the melted bodies of drones and broken machinery, and Prowl was certain that he saw the remains of another purple limb nearby.

"Oh oh."


	40. Peacemaker

AN: Whoa. 40 chapters. I never thought I'd make it that far. o.o Merry Christmas to all, here's an update for the holidays-and to all my reviewers so far, thank you ever so much for bearing with me. I'm touched and honored that you think so much of this fic.

Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas, and VL for being my beta. As for my health, it was not broncitus-I think. Somewhere along the line whatever it was that knocked me out a week prior to last mutated into the flu. . But I'm on some meds-and with the Christmas vacation, I should be able to relax and get my immune system up and running again.

* * *

**_Peacemaker_**

Ironhide carefully approached Chromia, holding out his hands.

"Chromia." He rumbled softly. "It's me, Ironhide." Another snarl came from the femme. "_**It's alright…you got him**." _

"Primus, she's gone completely feral!" Prowl exclaimed. Then he found himself being pulled down by Optimus as a plasma blast ripped a hole in the wall where he had been standing. Ironhide whirled around to pin the black-and-white with a glare.

"Shut up!" He snarled.

"Ironhide, can you get her to snap out of it?" Optimus rumbled, carefully helping Prowl up and backing away.

"Her spark's chaotic…and so is her processor." Ironhide whispered in reply, turning away to look back at his sparkmate. Guilt twisted at him, this was his fault. If he'd only stood up to Shockwave, Chromia wouldn't be in the state she was in now.

"You're her sparkmate, Ironhide." Optimus said, his voice barely above a whisper. "You can call her back." The black mech didn't answer, but slowly started to step forward towards the silver-blue femme and sleeping sparkling.

_"**Chromia**." _He whispered. "_**It's me, remember**?"_ He poured all his love and affection for her into their bond, sending her feelings of love and reassurance. "_**Come back-everything's alright. You protected our sparkling and Shockwave's gone**." _This elected another snarl from Chromia. Clutching Nightfire even closer to her, she aimed one cannon dead center at Ironhide's chassis. This did not deter the weapons specialist, and he slowly kept advancing towards the angry femme.

"Chromia, please…" Chromia didn't respond, save for a hiss, but as the soothing warmth of Ironhide's spark started to sink into her psyche, her frame slowly relaxed, the light in her optics starting to flicker between red and blue. Seeing this, Ironhide moved in even closer, reaching out to her. For her part, Nightfire had been slowly onlining the minute Ironhide's presence had made itself known. Now at the feel of her father's spark so _very_ close, she awoke in Chromia's arms and turned.

"Dada!" She squeaked joyfully. "Dada, dada, dada!" Her clicks of delight seemed to fully snap Chromia out of her stupor, optics flickering back to blue. Swaying, she looked at the mech in front of her.

"Iron…hide?" She mummured.

"Yes. _**It's me, love**._" Chromia swayed again, one hand reaching out to her bonded.

"Ironhide…" Her legs gave out, and she would have fallen had it not been for the strong arms of her mate catching her.

"Optimus, call Ratchet!" Ironhide barked. Gently kneeling down, he started to scan Chromia's frame as Prowl activated a light. His sparkmate's left leg was nearly twisted all the way around below the knee, and the armor covering her upper right arm was shredded completely. Vicious dents and holes marred her frame, with Energon slowly leaking out of the wounds. The black mech felt the familiar rage start to grow within him, but he bottled it down.

"It's alright." He murmured. Being careful not to jostle Chromia, he pulled her as close to him as possible. "You're safe now."

* * *

"Clear the bay, 'Aid!" Ratchet barked as he pulled away from the console. Barricade sat up as the CMO came over by his berth.

"What? What's-ow!" He bit back an exclamation of pain as Ratchet took one arm and Perceptor the other, gently forcing him to stand up. "What in the Pit-"

"I want you out of the way in case Chromia's not completely stable when they arrive." Ratchet snapped, helping the black and white over to another recharge berth on the far side of the bay. "I don't know what condition she and Nightfire are in and knowing her, she probably went berserk on that fragger's aft!"

"Not that he didn't have it coming to him." Barricade rumbled in reply, understanding. Treating bonded mates was one thing-but a crazed femme protecting a sparkling-an _entirely_ different story. "Sit down and shut up?"

"Perfect." Ratchet snapped, pulling a screen in front of the Decepticon scout as he stretched out on the berth. This was done just in the nick of time, as a beam of light announced the arrival of Ironhide and Chromia. "Primus!" At the sound of his voice Chromia's head snapped up, her optics starting to flicker between red and blue.

_Oh __oh. _"Optimus and Prowl?"

"Scouting the area." Ironhide answered, immediately sensing the situation. "We found one of that Pit-fragger's arms, Chromia got him pretty good." Pride was now in his tone.

"Yes, well despite that…" Ratchet murmured, being careful to keep his voice low and his hands clearly in front of him. "I see Nightfire's comfortable." The sparkling had curled back up into a tiny ball in her mother's arms, peacefully recharging away. "Can you keep her stable enough for First Aid to take Nightfire and examine her?" In response, Ironhide bent his head close to his mate's own and started to gently murmur to her in Cybertronian, but to no effect. The silver-blue femme's hold on her daughter tightened and a hiss escaped her vocalizer.

"_**It's alright, **__**Chromia**._" Ratchet supplied. "**_Nobody's going to hurt __Nightfire_**_**. I just want to look at you, because you have some very bad injuries**." _He slowly moved forward. "**_The longer you stay the way you are, the more it hurts your __sparkmate__-it's affecting __Ironhide._**" This seemed to jerk Chromia out of her rage-induced state, and she turned her head to look at Ironhide. The black mech smiled weakly at her; the femme could see the small lines of strain in his faceplates and the feelings twisting his spark.

_Ironhide!_

"Just let me take her." Ratchet whispered, his voice low and soothing. "She'll not leave your sight." The femme sagged, her optics starting to flicker red and blue once again. "Remember me? Ratchet. I helped online Nightfire…"

"…Ratchet?" Chromia whispered. The yellow mech nodded.

_First Aid. _He texted. _Remember your training. No sudden moves-keep your hands out in front of you at all times, and whatever you do, don't get nervous!_ His apprentice nodded, carefully stepping into Chromia's line of sight, holding up his hands.

"It's me, First Aid." He stated. "I just want to check over 'Fire…make sure she's alright." To his credit, he didn't flinch when Chromia shot him a glare. "Remember? You called me 'Ratchet's bitch' once." The femme shivered slightly, her optics changing back to blue, swaying against Ironhide.

"Ugh…"

_'Aid, get her now!_ Ratchet snapped. The Protectorbot was quick to react, darting forward and removing Nightfire from Chromia's arms. Before she could react, Ratchet had moved in with a painkiller, injecting the fluid though an exposed Energon line.

"Get her over to that berth." He ordered, watching as Ironhide obeyed. If they could keep Chromia relaxed via the use of painkillers and sedatives, things probably could finally settle down somewhat. "First Aid?"

"So far, just a couple of superficial scratches-exhaustion and hunger, but that's it." The younger mech reported. "Shall I get her started on an IV?"

"Get her in a bath and take care of the scratches." Ratchet ordered, pulling a tray of instruments over to him. "If she's in picture-perfect condition, it'll keep our heads on if Chromia goes ballistic again."

* * *

_System failure._

_Initializing self-repair routines._

_Secondary life-support systems activated. _

He'd barely gotten out alive.

_Forced stasis lock in five __breems._

As it stood now, he couldn't do anything at the moment.

_Forced stasis lock in four __breems._

The drones had their assignments-at the rate they were working, they would find what he was after soon.

_Forced stasis lock in three __breems._

But not before he had his remaining few on land carry out another assignment.

_Forced stasis lock in two __breems._

Using the last of his reserves, Shockwave managed to send a short transmission out. The new mission was easy enough, a simple search and retrieval.

_Forced stasis lock in one __breem._

The sooner they could accomplish their goal, the better. He was on a tight schedule after all. And he couldn't do what he wanted to do with a missing arm and multiple injuries.

_Now activating forced stasis lock._

* * *

Prowl grimaced as he pushed aside a piece of debris.

"Nothing, sir." He reported, standing up. "Chromia may have hurt him badly, but he still got away somehow."

"That's not good." Optimus murmured to himself. "But even with the wounds Chromia gave him, he couldn't have gotten that far." He subspaced his weapon away. "We're not too far from the Laurentian Abyss."

"It would compute that he'd more than likely have another base of operations set up." Prowl mused. "Keep an eye on what he's doing."

"We need air support. Have Wheeljack send out another transmission to Jetfire-they should have been here by now." The red and blue mech ordered. "Also contact the local government, brief them on the situation. We'll try to keep damage as contained as possible, but this might get out of control."

"No offense sir, but we might be past that point." Prowl remarked dryly. "I'll have communications up in a cycle." Optimus nodded, turning around to survey the wreckage and releasing a sigh though his vents.

"I hope the two of them are okay."

* * *

Ratchet watched as Ironhide wrapped his arms around Chromia, pulling her slender frame close to his.

"Will she be alright?" Elita asked, coming to stand next to him.

"She's going to be on the inactive list for a while with that leg." The CMO answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "If that had twisted any more it would have snapped in two completely. The drugs kept her quiet, but I don't think she's fully out of the feral state yet."

"Ironhide will take care of that." The rose-colored femme said confidently. "Nightfire-"

"Exhausted, hungry, and sported a couple of scratches on her paintjob…which have been removed to keep Chromia from fritzing out even more." Ratchet rattled off. Elita's optics glanced over to the peacefully recharging sparkling, curled up into a tight little ball on a pile of pillows, a blanket covering her tiny frame.

"Just what in the name of everything that's sacred is he after?" She whispered. "I can understand Megatron-maybe to a limit, the sparklings but…just what…"

"Whatever it is, it has to go on the back burner until we damage control this recent event." Ratchet ordered, starting to walk over to a console. "Optimus and Prowl should be coming back soon, hopefully they'll bring us the good news Chromia killed the bastard." Elita didn't answer, watching as Chromia snuggled into Ironhide, the black mech shuttering his optics for recharge.

"I hope so."

* * *

AN: Yes yes, I know there is disappointment at Shockwave, but I assure you, he will be getting an even bigger can of whoop-aft handed to him before the story is over.

-cackle-


	41. Reprieve

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas.

Originally this was supposed to be a New Year's Day update. Then that got thrown out the window when I got in a car crash on New Year's Eve. I'm fine, but had to spend the week looking for a place to repair my car. I also had to deal with the guy wanting to possibly sue my insurance company, so things haven't been very fun. The chapter may seem a bit disjoined in places, and for that I apolgize.

Hopefully I should be getting back on my normal writing schedule this week-expect an update for Intimacy soon. Happy belated New Year to you all.

Words in Cybertronian are in bold and italics.

* * *

**_Reprieve_**

It was her favorite place in the whole wide world. As she slowly onlined, Nightfire squeaked with delight. She was right in-between Ironhide and Chromia, the soothing pulses of their sparks and reassuring beats of their pumps lulling her into a state of comfort.

"Mama." She twittered. "Dada." Her blue optics fluttered with exhaustion, she was so very tired. The events of the orn had been very stressful for her, and her tiny systems still hadn't made a full recovery. Clutching her stuffed cat closer to her, she snuggled in again-only to feel a strong pulse-her dada was awake! Clicking quietly, Nightfire turned her head to look up into Ironhide's blue optics.

"Dada." She squeaked, snuggling in even closer. Ironhide smiled, reaching out one hand to gently rub it over the sparkling's head.

"Hey there." He rumbled. "All nice and comfy?" A happy click was his response, Nightfire attempting to snuggle in even more in-between him and Chromia. "Hey hey. There's only so much you can do there, runt. Anymore and you'll be attempting to go back where you came from." Nightfire twittered again, stretching out and shuttering her optics. Less than half a breem later she was offline, purring away peacefully. Ironhide smiled again, shifting his attention to Chromia and tightening his arms around her. He could feel slight pulses coming from her spark-she was slowly starting to online.

_Primus,__ please let her have regained her senses. _He knew the moment his mate fully onlined, she jerked in his arms-but thanks to his grip, not violent enough to awaken Nightfire.

"Sssh." He mummured. "It's me." _**Ironhide**. _The silver-blue femme shuddered, her optics coming up to meet his. "You're safe. You and Nightfire are safe."

"Ironhide…" The black mech felt her sag into his frame in relief, hands gripping at his shoulders like he was the only solid thing in the word.

"Hush." He murmured. "How are you feeling?"

"…tired." Chromia whispered. Her spark was all but screaming in relief-reaching out to Ironhide's own desperately.

"This is my fault." The weapons specialist whispered. "I let you two be taken-"

"No no!" Chromia protested. "It's not! You did the right thing!" She looked up at Ironhide, her blue optics imploring. "If you'd charged him-he could have hurt Nightfire. You didn't let him hurt her." Giving into the need, she pressed to himself as closely as possible. "It's not your fault."

"Hn." Ironhide grunted. His own spark was calling to Chromai's own, soothing it. If anything, he would have done more-given his spark and hers what they were aching for-but there was a sparkling present and he didn't think that sparkbonding was exactly needed for the current situation. "Ratchet says you're on the off-duty roster for a while…your leg."

"Mmm." Chromia murmured, pulling away slightly so she could cradle Nightfire closer to her spark. "I…I was just so angry. Then everything became a blur…"

"Rest." The black mech rumbled. "We'll get the details later." No protests from Chromia, she stretched slightly and curled back up into Ironhide, Nightfire a happily purring ball of dark-blue.

* * *

"He's gone?!" Ratchet exclaimed. Optimus nodded.

"We found footprints-Chromia might have given him a good fight, but he still got away." He said, hydraulics hissing in relief as he sat down on a nearby berth.

"He's badly injured though." Prowl added. "He's missing one arm, and there was Energon spillage and internal parts all over the place."

"With no proper medical care and even with his self-repair systems running at full power, he won't be doing much of anything for a while." Ratchet mused. "His base?"

"Secure, but with that coastline he's probably got another one." The black and white answered. "Chromia?"

"With Ironhide and hopefully back among the sane-" A snort from Perceptor. "But her leg's not going to recover so quickly. She's on the 'off-duty' list until further notice." Optimus sighed, pushing himself up to his feet.

"Alright then…let's just carry on as normal. Prowl, I need-"

"Canadian government contacts-right on it." The black-and-white said.

"Jazz-"

"Keller says call him whenever you're ready." The silver bot responded, bobbing his head in tune with some music playing in his audio receptors. "But check out Elita and Wheeljack-they've got a proposition that ya might be interested in."

"Right. Also order Hound and Mirage to go back to Shockwave's base. Prowl and I searched every inch of it, but they might find something we missed." The red and blue mech ordered. "We may have gotten another reprieve, but something tells me it's not going to last for long."

* * *

"So they were here and here?" Wheeljack asked, pointing to several spots on a star chart. Elita nodded.

"Yes. They were very abundant as well. The minerals were present almost right to the cores."

"Heh heh, now this will give us a better bargaining chip with the government." Wheeljack cackled, his fins flashing green. "A ship full of this would easily get us out of those deals Optimus had to make…"

"A ship full of what?" The Autobot leader asked, coming into the room. Elita whirled around.

"Optimus!" She rushed over, embracing the tall mech before pulling back and checking him for any injuries. "Did you-"

"He was long gone by the time we got there. Hurt, but still gone."

"Can't get too far." Wheeljack said. Optimus moved over by the scientist, his optics scanning the table.

"What's this?"

"I remembered shortly after Chromia got split up from us that we found several asteroids with high mineral deposits." Elita said, joining her mate. "In particular-gold and silver."

"I see." Optimus mused, immediately catching onto his mate's train of thought. "You're thinking that if we…offer some of this to the U.S. government, they'll back off on some of their demands."

"If not completely leave us alone." Elita offered.

"While that would be nice, we still need to keep the lines of communication open. I will admit though…" The Autobot leader paused, looking at the maps. "This would help things greatly. Ironhide reported that the military contacts weren't happy with how little information we were giving them about our weapons."

"See?" Wheeljack pointed out. "Useful. Also, I think we might have found a good source of energy to get Energon from."

"Really?" The white and green mech nodded, pressing a button and bringing up a hologram of a small volcanic island.

"Montserrat Island in the Atlantic Ocean." He began. "British overseas territory, part of the Lesser Antilles islands, Caribbean Sea. In 1995, the dormant volcano present started to erupt, and hasn't stopped since. The initial eruption resulted in the complete and total devastation of the capital city, and more than 2/3rds of the population moving away overseas. Current total population is 4,488-however, I should note that that number is in flux-due to some of the residents moving back." He pressed another button, showing the island's volcano in its' full glory. "The volcano's still active-just enough for us to set up a good steady stream of energy."

"Geothermal…" Optimus mummured. "Elita?" The femme shrugged.

"I like it." She answered. "Not too many humans that we'd be bothering-Primus, if we offered them some of the metals they like so much-which they certainly could use…"

"Isn't this supposed to be Sideswipe's area of expertise?" The red and blue mech teased.

"With your approval, if we passed the political stage he could certainly take over." The rose-colored femme replied. "Wheeljack's running a search for other places like this where we could get natural Energon."

"The one you could probably bring up to Secretary Keller is Yellowstone." The scientist said. "That's classified as a supervolcano." He shook his head. "The simulations on that-Primus, the amount of damage it can do…"

"Not good?" Optimus asked, curious.

"No. I won't get into the details with you-but if we can at least drain out some of the magma we'd be giving them at least another couple hundred years or so." Wheeljack replied. "Don't ask-I'll explain later."

* * *

"She's said nothing yet?"

"Prowl, I don't even know if she's returned to sanity." Ratchet barked. "And I'm not disturbing her or Ironhide to find out. Aren't you supposed to be calling some government official?"

"I just thought that I would-never mind." The black and white shook his head. "Nightfire?"

"A couple of scrapes but just fine. Gave her a little bath, buffed out the scratches, made sure she got her toy and let her snuggle into them both." Came the reply. "Barricade left early-as did Thundercracker and the others."

"Hopefully not to call for reinforcements." Red Alert muttered.

"Actually, that's what they left for." Ratchet answered. Prowl stopped in his tracks.

"What?!"

"Frenzy picked up a fragmented transmission when Wheeljack was trying to hail Jetfire. Coded Decepticon-but it was so broken he couldn't make any sense of it. They went back to their base to see if they couldn't puzzle it out."

"And you just let them-" Red Alert spluttered. "You just let them leave?! With all sorts of top-secret information-"

"We're getting along for the time being." Ratchet snapped. "And we have a common enemy-Shockwave. Turns out he wasn't as completely devoted to the cause like how the others were." He smirked at the looks of shock the two commanders were giving him.

"What?"

"How did you-"

"Frenzy felt free to generously give us some information. In proper Cybertronian I might add."

* * *

**_Megatron__ had data that showed him the layout of __Floatila_**_** exactly**." The silver hacker hissed. "**The data came from Shockwave. He'd been monitoring the base for almost a stellar cycle**!"_

_"What?" Ratchet whispered, unable to process what he was hearing. "__Megatron__…Shockwave…"_

_"**Shockwave…not what you call loyal**." __A slurp of coffee.__"**Not at the end anyway.**_**_ Wouldn't listen to __Megatron_**_**-stayed in his labs…**" __Another slurp.__ "**I tried to access his files but failed. **__**Only got one thing out of it**."_

_"What was it?"_

_"**A word.**_**_Trypticon_**_ Frenzy answered. _

"Trypticon?" Prowl and Red Alert repeated at the same time.

"Does it sound familiar to you?" Ratchet asked.

"No." Red Alert said.

"Sounds like the name of something…" Prowl mused. "Did Frenzy say anything else?"

"Only that he suspected whatever this 'Trypticon' was, it was related to Shockwave's old Floatila data."

"How could he have obtained such precious information?! The femmes were more paranoid than me, and that's saying something!" Red Alert exclaimed. Ratchet shook his head.

"I don't know. And we can't find out…not after what happened next." Here all three mechs went silent.

"…I couldn't go in." Prowl said finally. "Not…not when their bodies were…"

"Nobody could." Ratchet murmured quietly. "Wheeljack and Perceptor finally had to set up drone units to go in and retrieve all the data they could find-but even then they had to set them on automatic, because what was on the monitors…" He shuttered his optics. "I'm glad Optimus made that decision."

"So am I." Red Alert said quietly. In his CPU he could still see it. A mushroom cloud-where once a floating city had been, now nothing-that area of Cybertron made prohibited not from the fallout, but also for the ghosts of that terrible orn. "So am I."

* * *

AN: Yes, the data about Monsterrat is true, along with the asteroid data (which I checked on with a friend). The same goes for Yellowstone-if it ever exploded, the worst that would happen would be that the whole world would go into volcanic winter, and a good chunk (if not all) of the United States would be wiped out in the intial blast.

Also in IDW's _Stormbringer_, use of nuclear techology to wipe out something is mentioned-in this case, I thought the Autobots using it to wipe the remains of Floatila off the map would be a good idea. With the amount of dead that was present-easier to get what was needed via drones and create a memorial in Iacon.


	42. Layout

AN: 1/2 of the ideas are mine. The others belong to Karategal, TheMoonlessKnight, VioletLight and Hearts of Eternity. They get full and complete credit and also my eternal thanks for allowing me to use their ideas after they gave me permission.

Originally this was supposed to be updated last Monday, but the writers's block didn't want to move no matter what I did.

Credit also goes to VioletLight for helping me out with the Barricade/Flamewar part of this chapter, also for letting me borrow Nightshade. Also, words in Cybertronian are in bold and italics.

* * *

**_Layout_**

Thundercracker lifted a hand to wearily rub his faceplates.

"You're telling me we came back here…spent half the night trying to decrypt this…and it's a fragging _love letter_ for Barricade?!" Frenzy cackled hysterically.

"'Cadehashasabootybootycalltomake!" He snickered. This resulted in the Seeker giving him a sideways glance.

"…Seek help." Frenzy only laughed harder, rolling around on the floor with this little feet kicking up in the air. Thundercracker rolled his optics and turned his attention back to the screen.

"Teeheeheehee! Bbbootycall!"

"You're sick. Take yourself to the Autobot CMO and get help."

* * *

Barricade idly traced the datapad he had in his hands, red optics flickering over the Cybertronian script. His spark was aching, Flamewar was so near and yet so far…

_The signal was strong for such a small transmission. _Which meant she had to be nearby. The scout was almost dizzy with excitement, for all he knew she could be on earth and he hadn't known…. Again he started to re-read the letter, though now he knew it completely by spark.

_**Barricade …**_

_**I know you're there. Ever since we entered this solar system, my Spark has been screaming for yours. It's been so long, I can't say how much I've missed you. I don't need to say, do I? You know.**_

_**I just want you to know I'm safe. I can't say any more than that – Pit, I probably shouldn't even be telling you that much. I shouldn't be contacting you at all, not with the Orders and all, but I can't bring myself to believe you'd follow them. You're my **__**sparkmate**__**, and I can't believe, won't believe that has made us weaker. You bring me the strength, the courage to go on. You always have.**_

_**I … I can't go on like this. Not when you're this close. I'm coming. I'll be abandoning the others, but they don't need me. They can take care of themselves. Even if you are still following His Orders, even if it means my destruction, it's better than sitting here on my aft, with you so close, and doing nothing. **_

_**I'll see you soon, I swear it, and when I do …**_

A grin crossed Barricade's face as Flamewar started to aptly describe what she planned to do when she saw him again.

"Do I even want to know what you're smiling about?" The black and white was quick to subspace the pad away, looking up at Thundercracker.

"None of your damn business." He straightened. "Did Frenzy find anything else out?"

"No. I left him having a gigglefit in the control room." The Seeker crossed his arms. "Is she a survivor of Floatila?"

"No." Barricade answered quietly. "Her situation was different…and I was one of the very few 'bots who knew." Lying down on the berth, his optics flicked up to the ceiling. "Somebody got wind of what was happening that orn-we were at an outpost just outside of Kolkular. A rescue party came just ahead of the death squads…"

* * *

_"**She needs to leave now**!" Long Haul had barked, pulling a kicking and screaming __Flamewar__ away from Barricade._

_"**Get your hands off her**!" The black-and-white snarled__ lunging forwards only to be held back by Mixmaster. "**You **__**fraggin**_

_**Megatron's**__** got a team coming to kill her and the other femmes here**!" This shocked Barricade into silence, and he spun around to face the __Constructicon_

_"**What**?!"_

_"**He's lost his damn CPU-he's attacking **__**Floatila**__** and everybody on there**!" Barricade's optics widened in horror. "**He's killing off every single femme, sparkling-youngling-if you want **__**Flamewar**__** to live, let her go**!"_

* * *

"The last image I have of Flamewar is of Long Haul pulling her away." Barricade whispered. "Everything else is a blur-Scrapper was yelling at all of us to leave the area."

"I thought…" Thundercracker began, shocked. "I thought no femme from our side-" The police mech shook his head.

"When I could function again, I confronted Scrapper. He told me that he and the other Contstructions had been ordered to get as many Decepticon femmebots as possible off Cybertron."

"By who?!" At this, Barricade sat up to look Thundercracker in the optic.

"Nightshade."

"_Nightshade?! __Megatron's__ mate?!_ But I thought she-" The black and white shook his head.

"I don't know myself. Her team somehow managed to get out of Kolkular alive, but they didn't have much time before Megatron found out and ordered reinforcements." Barricade un-subspaced the letter again, looking at it. "So she ordered the Constructions to evacuate as many outposts as possible, sending the femmes to one of the moonbases before Megatron came back. After that, he said they'd left the system."

"And Megatron never found out?"

"As long as the body count matched up, everything was alright." Barricade didn't mention that Hook been scrambling in the aftermath to make sure the gruesome numbers tallied up properly-including desecrating a local memorial to the dead. "Even though everything worked out-Scrapper and the other Constructicons didn't want to be anywhere near Megatron, and got stationed on a base off planet." A sigh escaping his vents, Barricade stood up. "I…couldn't look into it any more after that. It took everything I had to bottle my feelings down-to bow down and force myself to follow Megatron's orders-though I refused to have anything to do with commands regarding femmebots and sparklings." A bitter laugh escaped his vocalizer. "And Primus damn it all, if I didn't agree with Prime's orders on the All Spark!" Silence filled the room for several breems afterward.

"Do you want to tell the Autobots?" Thundercracker finally ventured. "Especially with Elita-One there? She did have a mission to try and find any surviving femmebots on Cybertron after all." Barricade didn't say anything, optics still on the cube in his hands.

"…Not just yet." He sub-spaced the precious letter away. "Not until things get settled with Shockwave. I wouldn't put it past that one-opticed son of a bitch to have something in this affair as well."

"Think he ever knew?"

"No. No way." Barricade said confidently. "Has Frenzy found out anything else?"

"I'm assuming after he's finally finished killing himself laughing, he'll get back to work." The Seeker answered dryly. "If anything, the Autobots should have some information of what happened with Chromia and Nightfire."

"Let's just pray she killed the bastard." Barricade muttered.

* * *

Silence reigned in the medical bay as Chromia told Prowl of what had happened at Shockwave's base, Nightfire a happily recharging ball of dark-blue wires in her arms. Every so often the black and white's optics would flicker over to Ironhide, who was standing behind Chromia, gently embracing her. The weapons specialist was trembling slightly, and with vorns of experience, Prowl knew the moment his mate and sparkling left, Ironhide was going to blow…

And he was not disappointed. The minute the door closed behind the two femmes, Optimus was on his feet, clutching Ironhide in a bear hug.

"Optimus, let me go." This was uttered in a rather calm tone of voice-which again, did not bode well. When he was quiet, Ironhide was at his worst.

"No." The Autobot leader rumbled.

"I'm not going to do anything…except for ripping that fragger's spark out."

"You're not going to do anything of the sort." Optimus rumbled. _Think of __Chromia__ and __Nightfire, __Ironhide__! If you just go out looking for revenge you're not going to be able to protect them!_ The weapons specialist sagged slightly, the meaning behind the text message sinking into his processor.

"I failed them." He said quietly. "I let them be taken away…"

"You had no choice in the matter." Prowl said. "You know if you had tried to save them, there was a very high chance they wouldn't still be alive." Ironhide silently pulled away from the red and blue mech.

"Is that even possible…what Chromia told us?" First Aid interjected.

"It's not possible, it's a fact." Ratchet responded. He crossed his arms. "Spark mitosis-that's how Blaster and Soundwave got their symbiote partners. Only from the sounds of this-there's no CPU synchronization, so what he gets is a blank spark."

"Shouldn't that be a good thing?" Jazz asked.

"It's not. Shockwave and a blank spark is the worst possible combination you can come up with." The Autobot CMO answered. "Instead of those little drones-"

"He has bigger ones." Optimus said. "Easily programmable-they'll do anything he wants."

"Primus." Mirage muttered. "No adult femme would be safe from him, we _have_ to do something!"

"Something still isn't right here." Red Alert said, optics narrowing. "There's too many gaps…first what he knew about Floatila back on Cybertron, his relationship with the Decepticons…"

"Allowing survivors from the city to escape, including the leaders…and now all of this, including Megatron's remains." Prowl finished. "Red Alert is right. There are too many holes. Knowing Shockwave it all connects, but just how?"

"If he dies, we won't be able to get any answers." Ratchet said darkly.

"We couldn't find anything." Hound said, shaking his head. "Chromia made a too big of a mess-he cleared out by orbital bounce, we figured out that much."

"Computer?" Prowl asked.

"I downloaded some files but they're heavily encrypted." Mirage answered, giving a datapad to the black and white. "Looks like you'll need Frenzy on that." He turned to face Optimus. "Your orders, Prime?"

"Get some rest here and then head back." Was the quick reply. "The Canadian government is offering full cooperation, so you'll have no hang-ups with the local law enforcement. Just try to keep things as quiet as you possibly can, and report back with any new information you may have."

"Has there been any word on Jetfire and the others?" First Aid asked.

"Yeah, and you're not going to like it." Heads turned as Wheeljack entered the medical bay. "I just finally managed to raise them-they were attacked by Shockwave's drones."

"WHAT?!"

"How in the Pit-"

"Are they alright?!"

"Silence!" Optimus barked.

"They're fine. Their ship isn't, but they're okay." The scientist reported. "They were attacked leaving Jupiter's orbit. Seems like Shockwave left several nasty surprises out there."

"Or they're looking for something." Red Alert muttered. Optimus crossed his arms, mulling something over in his CPU.

"Bumblebee." The yellow scout looked up.

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to join Mirage and Hound later on in their search for Shockwave. Use a hologram to disguise your altmode-that way we can at least get one surprise on him if needed." Bumblebee nodded in agreement.

"Anything I can do?" Ironhide rumbled.

"Save for you staying with your mate for the moment, no." Optimus answered. Seeing his friend's shoulders sag, he reached over and put a comforting hand on the black mech. "Chromia needs you more than we do right now. I know you want your chance at Shockwave, and you'll get it. But right now, your mate and sparkling take top priority." Ironhide nodded, seeing the wisdom in his friend's words.

"Call me with any updates." He said, leaving the bay. The minute the doors closed behind him, Optimus blew out a gust of air though his vents.

"Primus, we need to resolve this quickly." He muttered.

"Preferably with Shockwave's head on a silver platter." Sideswipe muttered from his spot on a nearby recharge bed.

"You two are being partnered with Elita." Prowl said, holding up the datapad. "The three of you get to handle Frenzy-and see if there's anything useful on this."

"Do we get to kill the skittering fragger?" This from Sunstreaker.

"You can't kill him, he's being useful. For the time being." Ratchet responded. "Anything you want done on my end, Optimus?"

"You might want to make sure you've got enough medical supplies." The red and blue mech muttered, shuttering his optics and rubbing his foreplate. "Because I have the very bad feeling you're going to need every single one…_soon_."

* * *

AN: Alright. Recently there have been people asking me: 'where's the fluff?!' Have no fear, the fluff returns to a degree next chapter-the story is actually starting to wind down into the final chapters, which have a fair amount of action and resolution of plotholes within them. And in order to prepare, I needed to get the setups out of the way, and with what I had in mind, there was no space for fluff without wrecking the flow.

Next chapter: Shockwave's latest plan unfortunately goes off without a hitch...with disastrous results for the Autobots and two of their members.


	43. Deception

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. A thank you to Hearts and Violet for letting me bounce ideas off them and Violet for betaing again

The reason why THIS update is late (seems to be a trend recently ) is that I needed to do some extra research on the Canadian coastline, and then my keyboard's 't' button has started to act up. Not to mention I got attacked with two fic ideas that pretty much ate my brain for a while...but anyhoo, here's the chapter!

I also want to say...Wow. I'm still in shock I've got 700 reviews! -bow- I'm honored that you all think so much of this fic, and thank you ever so much for your reviews and support!

Also, shameless plug... Check out Hearts, Karategal and Violet's profiles-they're some of the best writers in this fandom. Without them I wouldn't have been able to even get this story started.

* * *

**_Deception_**

At this time of year, the waters off the eastern coast of Canada were extremely rough and choppy. This however, did not stop the two research vessels, their massive hulls bobbing up and down with the tide. The sky was overcast, with rain occasionally falling in light spurts. Nothing could be heard save for the loud whining of gears as the cranes aboard each ship strained to pull up their respective cargo. On an ordinary day, it might have seemed normal…but on this particular day, everything was far from ordinary.

The ships were devoid of all life-not even the cockroaches hidden in the deepest depths of the kitchen were present. An eerie air hung over the two vessels; something had happened there that was unforgiveable and irreparable. Yet the machinery kept moving, as if nothing had gone wrong at all. Finally the cranes shut off as two submersibles broke the surface of the pitch-black sea. Obeying some secret signal, the ramps on both ships dropped to allow their respective cargos to crawl back onboard. Lines snapped out, wrapping around a storm-gray frame and fastening themselves. Objective achieved, the two vessels slowly came about, following a homing beacon. Moving at a speed that was unheard of for ships their size, they started to make their way north up the Canadian coastline.

Occasionally behind them in their wake, a clawed hand would break the surface of the water before sinking back down into the black depths.

* * *

"Hound, you're about to run off the road again."

"Huh? Aaaahhh!" Resisting the urge to sigh in exasperation, Mirage gracefully pulled off the asphalt and turned around, waiting for his partner to extract himself from the bushes he'd driven into…_again_.

"I'm sure after Shockwave's taken care of, the Canadian government would not mind you exploring their forests to your spark's content. But until that happy orn, we have a job we need to attend to." He said. The green Jeep Rubicon pulled itself from the bushes and back onto the road, shaking itself on its wheels like a dog.

"Sorry. But everything's just so _fascinating_!"

"At least it doesn't take much to make you happy." Mirage replied. It certainly seemed like an odd pairing-he and Hound, and he'd certainly thought Optimus had lost his CPU when the assignment had been given. But for all its oddities-they made quite the team, the green mech's tracking skills combined with Mirage's own stealth/scout/sniper abilities. "I suppose since we've stopped, here is as good a place as any, right?"

"That works for me." Hound replied, gears grinding as he transformed. Mirage followed suit, sighing in relief and rocking slightly on his feet as the weight was lifted off his wheels.

"I'm getting out of shape." He mused.

"With the 'Cons gone that might be a problem for all of us." Hound quipped, unsubspacing a beacon and starting to activate it.

"Not all." The blue and white mech mused. "There's this bastard, and then Soundwave. Primus only knows what he's been up to."

"Two down and two more to go, huh?" Hound replied. "You have to give it to Megatron though…having three commanders was pretty smart, even though it caused a lot of trouble." Finished with the beacon, the green Autobot headed into the forest, intending on setting it down when a flash of silver caught his eye. "Huh?"

"What? What is it?" Mirage asked. Setting down his burden, Hound moved over to the tree, his fingers reaching out and picking up the remains of a silver drone. Holding it up for Mirage, he activated his scanners as the sniper immediately un-subspaced his rifle.

"It's been crushed." Placing it in one hand, he poked at it carefully. "At least an orn old." Activating all his sensors, Hound knelt to the ground, looking for any strange markings. It didn't take him too long to find what he was looking for-several yards away was a clearing of broken trees, the trunks snapped in two from the pressure of something being dragged into and over them. Scattered around at various points were more silver remains. "I can't tell, but it looks like his drones were starting to drop due to energy loss."

"Chromia." Mirage murmured. "I'm surprised he even had drones _left_ to help him." Hound continued his survey of the area, stepping carefully around the debris.

"Energon." He knelt again, brushing a finger into a blue pool and bringing it up to his faceplates to sniff. "It's starting to dry out, and not too much-looks like his self-repair systems started to kick in."

"Ratchet said we wouldn't have much time with that." Hound looked up at the blue and white mech.

"Looks like they went north." A quick download from the Internet provided him with a map of Canada's eastern coastline. "Seems to fit him-the further you head up, the more deserted it becomes." Mirage frowned.

"We don't have much time before the sun sets-only another couple of cycles."

"Do you want to wait for Bumblebee?" Hound asked. Mirage considered the question, and then shook his head.

"No. We better try to catch up." Shifting back into his alt mode, he waited for Hound to do likewise, and then fell in behind his friend as the Jeep Rubicon took the lead.

Unseen and unnoticed however, was a silver drone that had been watching the duo, its one little red optic watching the two Autobots drive away.

* * *

Chromia slowly came awake, a contented purr coming from her vocalizer. Ironhide had wrapped himself around her completely, she was pulled into his chest with one of his arms around her, and one of his legs effectively pinning hers to the berth. Despite the coolness of the room, he was so wonderfully warm-the femme wanted to do nothing more but stretch and curl up as tightly as she could into his embrace.

_Nightfire?_ She started to push herself up to look for her daughter when…

"With Bluestreak. In recharge. Which is what you're supposed to be doing." The sound of her mate's voice had Chromia smiling. Willingly she let herself be pulled back down, rolling over onto her back so she could better look Ironhide in the faceplates.

"Hey." She murmured. Ironhide's blue optics roamed over her frame, one hand coming up to slowly rub her right thigh.

"How are you feeling?" He rumbled softly.

"Tired." Chromia answered truthfully. "And…a bit worried you might go out and do something." The black mech growled at this.

"The only thing I'll do is bring you that fragger's head on a silver platter, and give Nightfire his optic to use as a marble." He said softly, his voice full of menacing promise.

"As long as you're not going to blame yourself." Chromia said softly. "Please, Ironhide. We escaped…and honestly, I just want to leave it there." Ironhide didn't say anything for a moment, and then finally nodded.

"This feeling better?" He rumbled, pressing down lightly on her leg. An impish smile crossed Chromia's face.

"Any time you put your hands on me, I always feel better." She purred. "However, in this case, if you were to move them up just a bit…"

"You mean…" Black moved upwards over silver-blue armor, ghosting lightly over a particular port and electing a breathy hiss of delight. "Here?" Another hiss and Ironhide grinned as Chromia's arms suddenly wrapped around him and pulled him down.

"Ah-ah." He scolded, pulling away slightly. "Ratchet said to avoid anything that would just tire you out again or stress your leg."

"Frag Ratchet and kiss me, fool."

* * *

Unaware that he was now the topic of discussion, Ratchet was hard at work in the medical bay, going over his report of what Chromia had experienced in Shockwave's grasp.

_If only Blaster were here. _His optics narrowed as he looked over the datapad. _I could probably get some answers… _He didn't have a clue about the symbiotic process, only the results and the extra caution that he had to take around Blaster whenever the red mech was in the bay for treatment. _At least one fact is clear-no adult femme or final-frame upgraded youngling femme is safe from that fragger. _He knew Optimus would be taking extra precautions with Elita's safety, Ironhide would be doing likewise with Chromia, and as for the colonists…

_Primus, that's a nightmare waiting to happen. _The yellow CMO scowled. Normally it wasn't like him to even dare wish ill-will on anyone, but in the case of Shockwave…come to think of it, how had his apparent obsession with younglings started?

"First Aid." The Protectorbot's head popped up from where he was over by a cabinet.

"Yes sir?"

"How do you suppose Shockwave got into this fixation with the younglings?" This was normal for the teacher and student, as First Aid's medical skills had advanced, Ratchet had slowly begun to discuss information about any given situation with the younger mech-as part of his training. CMOs were normally privy to classified information on any Autobot base.

"I don't know, to tell you the truth sir." First Aid replied, standing up. "One would logically assume that because he's a scientist-maybe he thought something might happen or would happen? And to counter it he decided he needed all the younglings he could get his hands on?"

"Hn." Ratchet grunted. "Still doesn't make sense though." First Aid was silent for a moment, and then he looked up.

"Maybe the Decepticons would know more?"

"Why do you say that?" The red and white mech shrugged.

"Logic? He was their chief science officer and fourth in command." He crossed his arms. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was any data about him in the Avatar databanks…sir?" For Ratchet had moved over to a console, starting to type something on the keyboard.

"You're right. The femmes of Floatila were pretty paranoid when it came to their charges, so if Shockwave had tried any-" A buzz came from the console. "What?"

"What happened?" Curious, First Aid came over as Ratchet started to type into the console again, stopping when the buzz sounded again.

"It's not letting me in." Ratchet said. "I don't get it…I should be able to have clearance but it's not letting me in."

"Maybe a different code?"

"Maybe…" Ratchet muttered. Over on the other side of the room, another buzzer sounded. "Frag. Try working on this, and I'll answer this call." He moved over to the other console, pressing a button.

"Ratchet here."

_Ratchet! It's Mirage! We need your help out here! Hound got attacked-that bastard Shockwave blew us off the road and he got the worst of it!_

"First Aid, get in contact with Optimus right now and alert Bumblebee!" Ratchet barked. "Mirage, where was Hound hit?"

_I don't know-he's bleeding out all over the place! You have to come right now!_

"I'm on my way! First Aid, get the orbital bounce ready-"

"It's already set! Here!" The yellow mech caught a medical cube that was tossed to him. "I'm still hailing Optimus."

"Just get him out there." Ratchet ordered, his voice grim as the beam of light surrounded him. First Aid watched as his mentor disappeared, his spark twisting in fear.

_Oh Primus, please, let everything be alright…_

* * *

Much like the Atlantic Ocean off the eastern coast, the border between Quebec and Labrador was dark, cold, and deserted. It was in this setting that Ratchet found himself materializing after the orbital bounce, his optics immediately scanning the area.

_What? This can't be right. _He doubled-checked his position, these had been the coordinates Teletran-II had picked up from Mirage's distress call. Finding no errors, he activated his halogen lights, the area lighting up as if it were daylight.

"Mirage? Hound? Where are you?" Something rustling in the bushes was his response, and his scanners showed a prone Cybertronian form. The Autobot CMO rushed over, starting to pull the brush aside.

"You fragger, if you don't say anything-" Removing one final piece of greenery, Ratchet drew in air though his vents to start yelling. "You send out that damn distress signal, make me teleport to only Primus knows where-"

"I see you certainly have not changed over the millennia." The statement, along with the utterly flat tone it was spoken in, along with a sickingly familiar yellow optic had Ratchet gasping and stumbling backwards.

"YOU!" Shockwave tilted his head at the action.

"Yes. Me." And before the Autobot could launch any kind of a counterattack, the purple mech transmitted a silent order to what remained of his drones. Ratchet soon found himself fighting for his life as numerous silver bodies swarmed him, little needles breaking though his armor, injecting him with something. The last thing he remembered was crashing to the ground, and the skittering sound of the Primus-damned things…

* * *

AN: -holds up the white towel yet again- Working on update.


	44. Desperation

AN: Chapter got delayed due to IRL crashing down like a ton of bricks. However, it is here now, and 45 will be up on Sunday. Also, this chapter is on the short and sweet side, due also to the fact I got stuck on this a couple of times.

Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow some of their ideas, which make up 1/2 of the fic. The ideas in the other 1/2 belong to me. Do not use without asking me first.

I also don't own Transformers.

* * *

**_Desperation_**

"Teeheehehee!" Frenzy cackled as he typed madly away on the keyboard in front of him. "Hackhackhackhack!"

"Does the little glitch ever stop jabbering?" Sunstreaker hissed.

"Patience is a virtue, Sunstreaker." Elita said.

"Not when there's an annoying git around it isn't!"

"I don't know…" Sideswipe mused. "He's not as annoying as certain 'bots…say Cliffjumper. Or Brawn-ow!" He winced as Elita smacked him upside the head.

"That's not nice."

"She showed you." Barricade commented from his chair, chuckling darkly. His optics flickered over her frame and then back to the datapad in front of him. This made Elita pause for a second as she moved alongside him to look at the monitor.

_Just how did he and his femme keep their bond a secret? Surely someone in the Decepticon rank-and-file would have noticed a behavior change and reported it… _As she'd told Mikaela orns ago, Decepticons were very 'liberal' when it came to matters involving-well, to use the human term, sex. Barricade looked like the type of mech who would gleefully shred any other rivals into pieces…maybe that was how he did it?

"Nobody cared." Elita started as the black mech spoke.

"Beg pardon?"

"She and I were just grunts. Megatron didn't care about his foot soldiers." Barricade said. Sideswipe was far away from them so there was no worry of the Red One hearing him speak, and with Flamewar's letter…she had to be close, so really, what was the point of hiding their relationship? "It didn't even start out in the way you Autobots have your relationships start. We were just bored one day, and then it just..." He paused. "Turned into something more. We were beyond lust, more than just wanting to get an overload to make the time pass." He looked down at his hands, remembering how small Flamewar's own hand had been in his, how much darker his frame had been against hers. "It's strange…I spurned it as a weakness in you Autobots-tying your lives to one other. But really, it's just a source of strength, isn't it?" Elita nodded silently.

"If I hadn't been bonded to Optimus, I would have probably died with grief from Floatila." She murmured. "The same for Chromia…they were just there for us." Crazed giggling from Frenzy had the rose-colored femme turning around.

"Fffoundsomethingsomething!" Several screens popped up around Elita and the others.

"…Mobile assault battle-station." Sideswipe read from the screen next to him and his twin. "Codename 'Trypticon'…holy frag, are you seeing the schematics for this thing?!"

"That's a lot of metal." Sunstreaker said.

"Not just that, a lot of resources that Megatron would have noticed missing." Elita said, leaning in. "Frenzy, any idea what he was going to use this for?"

"Aaattackkksomethingproprobably. IIIacon?"

"Does it say anything about him following the Floatila survivors?" Barricade asked his partner.

"Notnotnotgetthatfarfaryet." Frenzy tapped away on the keyboard. "HereheresurveillancedataonFloatila."

"I remember Lightstream reporting to Optimus…that he'd taken too keen of an interest in the younglings." Elita murmured. "Even Starstorm was worried."

"Maybe the bastard was thinking of launching his own attack." Sunstreaker said.

"For what? What would he have gotten out of taking the city hostage-aside from every single Autobot and Decepticon teaming up to personally kill him?" His twin countered.

"Chromia said…he wanted to rebuild Cybertron." Elita started slowly. "And he said the same to Optimus…maybe…"

"Maybe what?" Barricade rumbled.

"Maybe…he knew something we didn't." Elita said, looking at the screen. "Jetfire said once that if given enough data, scientists can predict certain events. What if he knew something was going to go wrong…and that Cybertron would need all the younglings?"

"That kinda doesn't match up with him killing them though." Sunstreaker said.

"Whatever plan he had in mind, it wouldn't have worked very well with him dead." Barricade answered. "So according to his precious logic, he had to go along. But if he could let some of them escape…"

"Then according to whatever he predicted and knew, at some point he could go after them." Sideswipe mused aloud. "Do you think he knew the war was going to get as bad as it did?"

"I'm not the fragger, but I'm willing to guess he did."

"He probably didn't anticipate Megatron's actions on Floatila though." Elita replied. "Frenzy, can you access anything else?"

"Willwillwilltakesometimetime." The silver hacker chattered. "HearhearanythingfromBotsyet?" Elita checked her chronometer.

"That's strange…they should have checked in by now." Frenzy skittered over to another computer console, typing in something.

"Herehere. Talktalktalktoyourstupidmatemate." The rose-colored femme gave him a dirty look, and then moved over to the console.

"Optimus?"

* * *

Ratchet grimaced as Shockwave tested his newly-reattached arm. In the corner lay the bodies of Mirage and Hound. Both Autobots were in a deep stasis lock. The CMO was bound, energy ropes gleaming a soft yellow in the gloom. The four of them were holed up in yet another bunker Shockwave had created…just over the Quebec/Labrador border line. Ratchet had done his best to try and puzzle out just where exactly they were, but all he could make out though a window set high in the wall were trees, which meant they were probably in a forest somewhere.

"You bastard, you got what you wanted. Let Mirage and Hound go!" He snapped. He'd onlined to the sounds of the drones skittering all over Mirage and Hound…digging deep into their chest plates, aiming tiny pointed feet at their spark casings. Shockwave had told him he could save them-by reattaching his arm. Finding himself in a corner, Ratchet had obeyed-but the minute the surgery was done, found himself being attacked by the drones again, then bound and tossed in a corner.

"I know it was me you wanted! Let them go now!"

"That would be most illogical." The purple mech replied, moving over to a console. "For the breem they onlined, they would call for Optimus. He is a factor that is not needed in this plan."

"What plan?!" Ratchet cried, exasperated. "The younglings or Megatron? Make up your fraggin mind about what you're doing!"

"I believe the humans have a saying: 'There is a reason for my madness'." Shockwave replied calmly. "And as for Megatron, I believe you may have already correctly surmised my wanting to exhume his body."

"The dark core." The yellow mech replied darkly. _Primus, if he gets his hands on that we're all good as dead. _

"Yes. It is an object that requires further study." Here Shockwave paused, looking over a datapad. "It was a comforting fact to find out however, that Optimus Prime's assumptions on bonded pairs producing offspring were correct. I assume that he and Elita-One will be the next set of creators?" To this Ratchet had no answer, save for the twisting fear that was now gripping his spark.

"You…you…they're not producing sparklings just for your twisted plans!" Primus, was that what Shockwave was after? The bonded pairs-that with Megatron dead and the Decepticons defeated, who would finally feel safe to create the family units they'd always longed for? And yet it made a perfect kind of sense…

"As I told Chromia, the predicted influx of offspring from the colonists would not be enough for Cybertron's needs. That is why the spark mitosis is needed-and any offspring produced by the Autobot bonded pairs." Here Shockwave turned around, regarding Ratchet. "I expected more from you as a doctor, Autobot. After all, it was you who figured out our race's numbers and predicted that if…what was it? Ah yes. 'Something short of a miracle' was needed to help rebuild our people." To this, Ratchet shuttered his optics, he had said those words but…

_This is wrong. It's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong! _They couldn't recover like this. Rebuilding the population-at least for younglings took time, and it would take even longer for femmes to finally reach the percentage level they were at before the war started. A sound broke him out of his internal musings, Shockwave was looking at something on the console.

"Good." He stepped away, issuing orders to the drones. "I should only be away for several cycles. When I come back, you will tell me just how you revived your comrade, and where I can obtain the shard of the AllSpark." Before Ratchet could even respond, the Decepticon scientist had tapped in several commands, disappearing in a shimmer of light.

_He must be going after the orb. _The yellow mech looked around, searching for a way to escape. The few remaining drones Shockwave had were blocking the exits he could see; one or two of them still damaged…waitabreem. Ratchet froze, his processor going back over the events of the past several cycles.

_His self repair systems were still working…still had some lacerations and dents…but all he asked me to fix was his arm._ Something about that didn't seem right to the medic…just what had Barricade said about that thing? _Damn it, I can't remember!_ Dragging in air though his vents, Ratchet shot another look at the unconscious forms of Mirage and Hound. If only he could get Mirage awake-the sniper could be the one to get out of here and alert Bumblebee.

_Maybe… _Stretching out on the floor, he started to roll over to where Mirage and Hound were. The only reply from the drones was a dangerous skittering, but seeing that their charge appeared to be checking on the other captives, they settled back down. For his part, Ratchet rolled so that he just was within range of a data port in one of Mirage's arms. Shooting the drones glances every now and again, he started to grope for the panel of the data port…if he could get it, and plug it into his own arm port…

_I can shock him out of stasis and then we've got a chance to get out of here!_ He didn't know how much time Shockwave had on them, or just where he was headed, but Ratchet knew there wasn't very much time.

_Primus, please let Optimus and the others be already up here. Please!_

AN: Like I said, 45 is in progress, and will be up Sunday.

Also, quick note on the last part- there are two types of interfacing in general for Transformers. The first is to upload/download/share data quickly, and the second is for well...'fun' stuff. :p What Ratchet is doing is the first type. This is also in canon-if you've read IDW's Stormbringer and Devestation series, you'll see two examples of where interfacing was used for data transfers only. (Stormbringer - one of Jetfire's crew piloting the ship, and Devestation-Bumblebee doing the same for the _Ark)_. There is also canon for ports being located on other parts of a TF's body...the Hardcover movie guide gives Optimus data ports on each of his arms.


	45. Gathering

AN: Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow some of their ideas. They consist of one half of the story, the other half-all ideas are mine. I also don't own TF, I just like playing with the characters.

On another note: Litahatchee of _Night Fire _fame will not be updating her story until this upcoming Sunday-due to her becoming extremly busy at work. I offered to let her readers know in my AN for this chapter. She also gets credit for betaing this chapter.

Also-if you live in Quebec, I offer my sorries, I'm not meaning to offend anyone, I'm just going on what I've been told by a couple of friends who live in Canada.

* * *

**_Gathering_**

The sound of a car's engine cut though the deadly silence of the Canadian night. Lights flashed blue and red in a disorientating pattern as the police car pulled up to a clump of bushes, waiting.

"You there?" A rustle, and then Bumblebee emerged from the bushes, transforming as he did so.

"Barricade? What are you-"

"Two scouts are better than one, Autobot." The Decepticon rumbled, morphing back to his original form as well. "The rest of your party is on the way as soon as they clear the human red tape-something else came up." Bumblebee hesitated at this. He would have felt better with Optimus or one of the other Autobots, but since Barricade had been behaving so far…

"I got here too late." He began. "It looks like Shockwave blasted Mirage and Hound off the road-though I can't tell if he actually had Mirage call in to Ratchet or if that was a trick."

"Fraggit, that means he's recovered enough to assume his alt mode." Barricade growled. "Any ideas about where he could be hiding?" At this, Bumblebee grinned.

"As a matter of a fact, I think I may have found him." Quickly he accessed a file, using his optics to project a hologram of two massive research vessels out at sea. "I asked Wheeljack to patch me into any satellites that had been crossing this area for the past several cycles-and one had these interesting pictures." Barricade bent over to examine the hologram more closely, his optics narrowing.

"These are the two missing ships you Autobots were talking about." He said.

"Yep. Look at their afts…they're towing something." Bumblebee replied. The black and white mech hissed though his dental plates.

"Damn it, looks like he already found Megatron's body…how old are these photos?"

"At least six human hours old." The hologram was turned off. "According to those images, they were heading north." Barricade was quick to access the Internet himself.

"Damn, there's not that much to destroy up north." He commented gloomily. Then a grin crossed his faceplates and he looked over at the yellow Autobot. "Oops, did I say that out loud?"

"You're insane." Bumblebee muttered, pulling up his own data. "Not many humans live up in the northern area…everything starts to get deserted around the Quebec/Labrador border line."

"Sounds like the perfect area for the bastard." Barricade rumbled, shuddering back into his Saleen form. "I'll go on ahead."

"Oh no you don't!" Bumblebee snapped, hurrying into the middle of the road to block the Decepticon. "Next thing I know, you're getting kidnapped!"

"Unlikely."

"Look, can we continue this later?" The yellow mech snapped, shifting back into his alternate form. "Let's just get up there and try to find wherever he's hiding!"

* * *

_I can't believe they didn't notify the people living in this area!! _Prowl texted. _Have they lost their minds?! _He, Optimus, Elita and Ironhide were on the Québec highway Mirage and Hound had been on several hours earlier-after finding out the Canadian government had a rather nasty little surprise for them. To be more specific-the inhabitants of Quebec hadn't been notified of the sudden alien activity. And now that it seemed like a fight might break out…

_It just means that whatever happens, we have to keep it contained to a deserted area. _Optimus replied. Though just how he and his team were going to do that-he had no idea, and he was praying deep down in his spark that they wouldn't end up fighting. _Any word from Bumblebee?_

_I just got a message. He thinks he's got Shockwave's location. _Elita texted. _Barricade's with him-they're going to check it out._

_Tell them if they see anything to fall back and wait for us. _The red and blue Peterbilt truck ordered. _What's their location?_

_Northbound. They're heading towards the border between this province and the next one-it's called Labrador. _Prowl reported. _Very few humans live up there-so casualties should be kept to a minimum if we end up in a fight. _

_Why in the Pit didn't the government notify the humans living in this area?! _Ironhide sent out.

_Apparently they're having trouble with the local citizens who live here. They didn't want them to have any cause for panic…though now I'm wondering if there wasn't some type of ulterior motive. _Prowl replied. _Seems there's a history of antagonism against the ruling government here._

_Great, even more pressure to keep things under wraps. _Elita grumbled.

_At least Chromia and Nightfire will be safe. _Optimus rumbled reassuringly. Bluestreak, the Twins, Jazz and Red Alert had volunteered to stay behind at Autobot City, protecting the femme and her daughter. Wheeljack had also stayed behind-trying to hail Jetfire. _Is there anything else?_

_Bumblebee said Wheeljack was also able to find the two missing ships-they're heading north as well. I don't know if we'll be able to make it up there in time though. _Prowl texted. _If only Mirage, Hound or Ratchet had been able to activate a locator beam-we wouldn't be in this mess!_

* * *

It had taken up too much precious time, but Ratchet had finally managed to connect his cable to the data port in Mirage's arm.

"Oh Primus, please, please let this work…" He murmured, slowly gathering up electrical energy in his arm. Light sparked as a jolt of electricity slammed into the blue and white mech's frame. _MIRAGE! WAKE UP!!_

"Gaah!" The sniper's optics flew open, his body twitching as his systems struggled to absorb the raw energy crackling though them. "Aaah!! Wha…what the-"

"Bitch later, we have a situation here!" Ratchet hissed. "Are you online yet?" Mirage shook his head.

"What the-are you plugged into me?!" Then he fell silent as several drones skittered dangerously close, stopping several feet away and fixing him and the yellow CMO with beady red gazes. "Just what's going on here?!"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Ratchet hissed. The sniper fell silent, his processor bringing up the last set of memories it contained.

_The familiar sounds of a transformation-and then a sudden blast of white, he was flying up into the air. Another flash of light-a scream from Hound, and then the last thing Mirage remembered was the incredible pain of tree trunks hitting his back…_

"…Shit." The sparkfelt expletive from Mirage had Ratchet arching an optic ridge; it was rare to hear the aristocratic Autobot swear.

"Up to speed then?"

"You didn't have to shock me-ow..." Mirage grumbled, pulling back on his arm as much as he could, disconnecting from Ratchet. "Why does my chest hurt? Ow."

"The bastard had drones next to your spark chamber and Hound's-if I didn't reattach his arm, they would have killed you." The yellow mech replied.

"He just wanted you to fix his arm? Something about that seems off."

"You're telling me. Can you activate your disruptor?" Silence, and then a muttered Cybertronian curse from Mirage.

"It's deactivated-if I could get my arms free, I could do a fast repair on it…Hound?" Ratchet craned his neck-yep, there was good 'ol Hound next to Mirage.

"Still out of it. He's stable though." His blue optics tracked back to the now actively skittering drones. "Mirage, whatever you need to do, I would suggest you do it quickly-the natives are getting restless."

"Don't rush me! Ow!"

"If you break yourself without getting us somehow out of here or at least activating a locator beacon, I will kill you." Mirage wisely did not reply, instead focusing his energy on the bindings around him.

"Nnngggh…" He stopped, dragging in air though his vents. "This is not working- we're too packed up in here. If I had a little wiggle room I could get my arms in front of me." Ratchet bit back on his own set of lurid curses.

"Well, now what?" He snapped. Mirage paused.

"Think you can get Hound out of stasis the way you did me?"

"You want him to use an illusion?" Ratchet countered.

"Well, unless you have any other way to move our guards over there-so you can get out of my way-ow , ow, ow, OW!!" For the yellow Autobot had rolled over on top of him, landing with a small 'crash!' next to Hound and pushing the blue and white mech out of the way. "That hurt!"

"You'll live." Ratchet groused, fumbling for Hound's own arm port. "Just get started on getting to your disruptor, pretty mech."

"Your beside manner is barbaric."

"Will you just break loose already?!"

* * *

_**Calabi-Yau**_

_**200 miles above Earth**_

"Jetfire, are you sure you can do this?" Silverbolt asked, worry in his optics. "I'm not questioning your flying skills-but your armor…"

"It can handle this." Jetifire responded, un-subspacing his arm cannons and shoulder-mounted guns.

"At least transcan-"

"No time for that, I'm pushing the limit as it is with this." Here Jetfire paused to pull on his helmet. "Just radio Wheeljack and tell him that I'm inbound. You and Skydive get the ship hidden, and then follow." The Aerialbot leader sagged, seeing that he couldn't talk the scientist out of his crazy plan.

"Aright..." Hurrying out of the airlock, Silverbolt sealed the door shut and watched through the window as Jetfire braced himself against the frame-before launching himself out into space, plummeting towards Earth's atmosphere.

_Primus, let him get down there in time. Please!_

* * *

Silverbolt's concerns were the last thing on Jetfire's CPU as he freefell though Earth's atmosphere. His personal shields protected him from the worst of the heat; the former Seeker was waiting for the perfect moment to activate his engines fully.

_Sonic boom lines...so primitive, but it'll have to do. _He couldn't risk flying below a certain altitude-because the minute he activated his thrusters to max, the resulting sonic boom would attract more attention that he was bargaining for. _I've probably come up on someone's radar already-there! _Hitting the imaginary latitude line he had been aiming for, Jetfire leveled out, his thrusters warming up. Without any warning they roared to life-

_**CRACK!**_

And Jetfire was off again, a faster-than-light moving blur over the Atlantic Ocean.

* * *

AN: -sag- Phew. Update will be next Sunday. Also, the idea of the sonic boom lines-IRL, they are two imaginary lines of latitude where the Earth's velocity is equal to the speed of sound.


	46. Borderline

AN: -bow- Here's the latest update. Not only did I get sidetracked by _System, _all the action that I had in mind for this chapter and the next pretty much resulted in a very nasty case of writer's block for this story. But when I first put out _System_, I did promise an update at the latest being today, so here it is.

_System of a Down_ will be updated by Tuesday night, and _Intimacy..._may or may not be removed from I am still considering what to do with it.

Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessKnight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow a couple of their ideas. Credit also goes to Litahatchee for being my beta this time around-her fic will be updated this upcoming Sunday at the latest. Go read her _Night Fire_ and Violet's _Vapour Trails_.

I do not own TF, but 1/2 of the ideas in here (including Nightfire) are mine. Use without permission and Frenzy will leave your computer with something not nice.

* * *

**_Borderline_**

The armor looked as if it had never been in a fight. A testament to the power of the core, Shockwave mused as he looked over the body of Megatron.

_I do not have much time. _Knowing the Autobot medic, he would more than likely be trying to figure out a way to escape-or notify the others. _I would have preferred to do this in a less brutal manner and certainly in more…sanitary settings, but I have no choice. _Taking careful aim at the deceased Deception leader's midsection, Shockwave fired several rounds into the armor, watching as the structural integrity started to weaken. When he judged it was weak enough, Shockwave stopped. Kneeling down, he plunged his other hand into the armor, pulling it roughly apart until he found what he was looking for.

_Ah. _Pausing, he un-subspaced a containment cube. Housed in Megatron's midsection, the core was humming silently. Reaching in, the Decepticon scientist took hold of the sphere and then pulled, ripping out the core. Ignoring the spatter of Energon Shockwave stood up, running his own scans on the precious object he held.

_Still fully active. The energy however…it is something that I've never encountered before, and there are certainly no records of it in any databanks on Cyber-what? _For black waves of energy had suddenly appeared, running up and down the purple mech's arm and over his frame. _This is unusual. _Kneeling down, Shockwave placed the sphere in the containment cube, sealing it shut.

_My systems indicate… _Here he paused, running several scans on himself. _I see. It healed the rest of the injuries inflicted on me by the femme Autobot._ Indeed, he was restored to full functionality. _This bears further study, but not at this moment. _Shockwave turned around to the two waiting submersibles, which had transformed and were patiently awaiting his next order.

"Get rid of this." He ordered. The drones scurried to obey, reaching out with clawed hands to drag the lifeless frame of the former Lord High Protector back into the sea, towards its watery grave.

* * *

Bumblebee repressed a shudder as he watched his older brother's body being dragged away.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Barricade rumbled.

"Nothing." Forcing his optics away from the sight, the yellow Autobot checked his chronometer.

"Optimus and the others are still too far away. And even with our combined firepower, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"Frag it, couldn't you bring your crazy pet femme along to rip his aft a new one again?" The black and white mech growled, bringing out his gyroblades.

"I dare you to say that to Ironhide when he comes." Bumblebee answered. He dared to peek over the ledge again, Shockwave was watching as Megatron's body was being pulled into the surf. "He's got what he wanted…and now he's going back to kill Ratchet and the others. And that's after he gets the location of the AllSpark shard…"

"Then uninstall what your leader told you, and let's just keep this bastard here until they arrive-what?" The roar of engines had both scouts looking up, a flash of grayish white and red shot over their hiding place. "What the…" Bumblebee's optics widened.

"Jetfire!"

* * *

_Optimus, I've located Shockwave. _

_Jetfire! Primus, when did you arrive?!_

_I hope you don't mind if we get into that later on, sir. Right now I believe I can keep him distracted until you arrive. _

_Be careful, Jetfire. _This warning came from Prowl. _There is a good chance that Shockwave may have gotten some sort of power surge from handling that core…even if he's gotten his hand on it already._

_Thanks for the warning. I'll be careful as possible. Track my location and come here as quickly as you can. _Cutting the communications link, Jetfire was quick to transform, landing with a _thud _several feet behind Shockwave. The purple Decepticon didn't even twitch, save for tilting his head slightly.

"Jetfire."

"Shockwave." The Seeker responded, summoning a plasma rifle in his right hand. "I would say it is good to see you, but it's not." Shockwave turned around.

"Your honesty was always a refreshing quality among us. It was missed when you defected." He answered. "I confess to curiosity that I did not understand your actions. If anything, I pictured you as a Neutral."

"I changed my mind." Jetfire answered. "But since we're asking questions…what are you up to? For a mech that claims to be very logical, you haven't been acting in that matter." Then he started as Shockwave laughed-yes, actually chucked. "What the…"

"If you want an answer to that question, I would have suggested asking Alpha Trion."

"Alpha…Optimus and Megatron's father?! What…what does he…" The fighter jet stammered out.

"If he had paid more attention to his sons and less time stirring up the Council of the Ancients, Cybertron would have not been plunged into civil war." Shockwave stated bluntly. "Once in a while Jetfire, it is good to see that there is a world outside of book cubes and experiments." He moved over to the containment cube, imputing a command and watching as it was teleported away by orbital bounce.

"What does Alpha Trion have to with all of this?" Jetfire got out again, shocked.

"A great deal. The situation with Cybertron's population did not arise until later, and it is a priority." Here Shockwave tilted his head. "You can say now…both of them require equal attention." Jetfire stared at his former commander, his thoughts in a whirl.

_What is he going on about?!_

"What the Pit is he talking about?!" Barricade demanded.

"I don't know! Don't ask me, I know just as much as you do, which is nothing!" Bumblebee snapped back.

_Alpha Trion…Optimus's mech Creator, and my…well, to use the human word for it, grandfather! _"All I know is that he was Optimus and Megatron's father, and that Megatron killed him during the coup."

"Ripped out his spark-and some reports had him eating it." Barricade murmured. "I didn't know too much about the old kook myself…save for that he kept provoking the old bastards of the Council."

"Provoking?" Bumblebee repeated.

"Yeah. I never really got the details, but a lot of it seemed to be about the AllSpark. I even heard a rumor that he had issues with bonded pairs that created sparklings…compared to the AllSpark producing them. But I could never really find out if it was true or not." The black mech replied.

"Why would that be an issue? Sparklings are sparklings, no matter how they're created." Bumblebee said.

"I look like I know? Your mech there needs to stop with the talk and actually start fighting!"

* * *

Mirage scowled as he kicked away what remained of Shockwave's original silver drones.

"That should take care of them…Hound, are you okay?" Leaning against the wall, the green Autobot grinned weakly, giving his partner a thumbs-up.

"I'm fine."

"You two are getting out of here." Ratchet started bluntly. "And then I'm heading to Optimus and the others."

"You can't go out there by yourself!" Mirage protested, and then he crumpled as Ratchet hit him on the shoulder. "Ow!"

"Exactly. Goodbye." Before the two could protest, Ratchet had triggered an orbital bounce. As the light faded away, the CMO turned his attentions to his frame, running several sets of scans.

_Good. I've got enough left in me for a fight. There's a good chance that Optimus and the others have already beaten me up there though. _Muttering several choice phrases under his breath, Ratchet transformed, heading for the exit the minute his tires touched the ground.

* * *

"I still don't understand." Jetfire said.

"You disappoint me, Jetfire. Has living amongst the Autobots dulled your thought processes?" Shockwave countered.

"You're expecting me to believe that Alpha Trion managed to do what no other scientist on Cybertron could? He had no-"

"Scientific background? Yes, that is correct." The purple mech answered. "He hid all files in a computer on Cybertron-code named Vector Sigma. Unfortunately, before I could start my perusal, Megatron killed him, and the war started. And then the second time I wanted to pick up where I left off…"

"Floatila." Jetfire said darkly.

"Correct. But looking back, I realize I was already sidetracked. The brutal tactics that were being employed posed a significant threat to the population. I also theorized that it would have only been a matter of time before Floatila would have come under fire so to speak, but I did not anticipate Megatron's actions." Here Shockwave raised his gun arm, pointing it at the former Decepticon. "And as much as I would like to continue this conversation, it has now become unnecessary." Jetfire immediately took up a battle position, aiming his rifle at the purple mech. "I am already behind schedule as is. You understand, of course."

"I'd rather not." Jetfire answered. _Optimus, will you hurry up?! I can fight him but it won't last for long!_


	47. Conflict

AN: /bow/ I have nothing to say for the three week delay. Action scenes normally give me a nasty case of writer's block, and then the sudden realization of 'eek, this is one of the last chapters for this fic'! also did not help matters any.

And then of course, real life interjects and well...

Then there was this website completely messing up the formatting in all my fics by deleting the scene breaks I had, and making me use a new one. This invoked rage. While I have some of my stories repaired, I have't gotten to them all, and that is something I'm REALLY not looking forward to doing.

Anyway. I do not own TF, and credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow a few of their ideas. 1/2 of the stuff in the fic belongs to them, and the other half-including Nightfire, belongs to me. Use without permission and Frenzy damages your computer.

* * *

**_Conflict_**

The peaceful Canadian night was suddenly shattered by a series of explosions. The ground shook violently with the force of otherworldly weapon discharges, rippling along into the nearby towns and jolting the sleeping humans out of their beds. Local law enforcement soon found that they were struggling to maintain some semblance of order as panic took over.

All of this however, was lost on Jetfire as he dove for cover behind a rock formation. The former Seeker had found himself in a corner fighting his former mentor (of sorts). While Jetfire was surprisingly well-armored and well armed for a mech who didn't like to fight-(not to mention capable of laying out some serious pain when he wanted) Shockwave well…had _changed_.

_Primus!! _Not normally religious, the grayish white and red jet found that he was imploring for divine help. _What in the Pit happened to him?! _Every single attack he was aiming at the purple mech didn't seem to make a mark-and if he wasn't mistaken, his plasma blasts-from his gun arm and his alt mode-had just gotten a lot more powerful. Deep gouges were burned into the earth and surrounding environment, the scientist couldn't understand how his darker counterpart could have gotten so powerful. _There is no way I can get into the air-not when he's in his gun mode!_

"Now Jetfire." Gear ground as Shockwave transformed. "I really did expect better of you-you are considered one of the best fighters on Cybertron, if not one of the better flyers."

"Consider me on the defensive!" Jetfire countered, sub-spacing away his plasma rifle. It seemed like he wasn't going to be able to get anything done with firepower-so time to get up close and personal. "Try this!"

And before Shockwave could even react, Jetfire had flung himself from behind the rock formation, slamming into the purple mech face first. The two went sprawling, but Jetfire was already moving-forcing his bulk into a handspring, landing hard on his thrusters. Shockwave was quick to recover, rolling to the side and coming up firing-but only to meet air. Jetfire had spun away from the blasts, one leg flying up to slam violently into Shockwave's midsection. The Decepticon scientist had no choice to but to suffer the blow, but it gave him a quick advantage.

"Now you're starting to put some effort into it." Before the Seeker could react, Shockwave had seized him by the leg, and sent him flying into the rock formation. The ground shook with the force of the impact, and Jetfire collapsed to the ground. "You were quite the well-rounded one. Knowledge and violence perfectly proportioned out in your processor." Jetfire cringed, shaking his head in an effort to clear his processor. "A pity though, that you have to be deactivated…"

"The only one who's getting deactivated is you!" The Autobot scientist snarled as he unsubspaced something and hurled it into the air before hitting the ground face first. Shockwave had barely enough time to watch the little shock grenade fly towards him before it exploded.

_**BOOM.**_

Optic trying to reboot even as he was sent flying backwards, Shockwave crashed into the ground once more from the concussive force. This gave Jetfire his own opening, and he came up firing-wrist-mounted guns blazing.

"While I respect science and knowledge just as much as the next mech, you go too far!" He snarled. "You went too far when I was with the Decepticons, you went too far when I left, and you still go too far even now!" Shockwave got back up.

"There are no such things as limits, Jetfire."

"But there is such a thing as crossing the line!" The familiar voice had Jetfire whirling around; Bumblebee had appeared, aiming his cannon at Shockwave.

"Bumblebee!" Behind Shockwave, Barricade had appeared, his gyro blades materializing.

"Come here!" He snarled, lashing out and hooking the purple mech with the weapon.

"Bumblebee, stay back! You could get hurt!" Jetfire cried.

"You need the backup!" The yellow scout yelled, rushing forward. His black-and-white counterpart on the other hand, had focused his attention solely on the object of his wrath.

"Consider this payback for what you did to me!" This statement was punctuated as the gyro-blades sunk deep into Shockwave's back-Barricade braced himself and gave the chain a powerful yank. The Decepticon scientist found himself flying though the air, crashing into another rock formation. Before he could recover however, Barricade was on him, lashing out with the gyro-blades as if they were a whip at the purple mech's prone form. Having no other choice, all Shockwave could do was curl up to absorb some of the blows…and wait for an opening.

And he soon got one. As Barricade reared back for another strike, Shockwave lunged out-grabbing the chain and pulling back, sending Barricade off his feet. The black and white went flying to the side. Gears started to grind as Shockwave transformed back to his alternate mode, and Jetfire's head whipped back towards Bumblebee.

"Get out of the way!" He cried. Seeing the danger, the yellow scout was quick to throw himself out of harm's way just as a super-charged plasma blast scorched the area where he had been standing.

_That damn attack's stronger than normal, and nothing we do is having any effect! He must have gotten some sort of power boost from handling the core! _Jetfire thought. Bumblebee had rushed over to help Barricade, the two of them ducking down as another plasma blast blasted over their heads.

"Damn it! Where the Pit is your leader, you little yellow nut?!" Barricade snarled.

"They're coming, they're coming!"

"I'll see if I can distract him from you!" Jetfire yelled. Pausing only to send several plasma blasts from one of his shoulder mounted guns at Shockwave, the Seeker started to run down the beach.

_Maybe if I transform and- _The thought was cut off as pain suddenly seared every single one of his systems. A scream came from Jetfire's vocalizer as he fell, a large hole smoking in his right leg.

"Aaaahhhh!!" Behind him, Shockwave calmly walked over, smoke still coming from the barrel of his gun-arm.

"For all your skill, you are still a Seeker. And as a Seeker, you have numerous weak points on your frame." He said almost conversationally, stopping alongside the wounded Jetfire. "Your wing tips-well, the wings in general, tailfins, thrusters...hit just one and you're out of commission. And I…" His optic flickered over the Autobot's prone form. "Seem to have hit you in one of your thrusters." Jetfire bit back a cry of pain, struggling to push himself up on his elbows. Shockwave had spoken the truth; the plasma blast had destroyed the turbine in his right thruster.

_Oh, Ratchet will be handing me my head on a platter over this! _Above him, Shockwave was calmly pointing the barrel of his gun arm at the jet's head.

"Such a pity." He remarked.

"Pity this!" The melody of transformation had the purple mech turning his head…

Just as a familiar black-armored form crashed into him. Ironhide roared in satisfaction as he and Shockwave flew through the air, his optics flickering from blue to red.

"You and I have business, fragger!!" He snarled, onlining a cannon and pressing it into Shockwave's chest. Behind him Optimus and the others transformed, the Autobot leader immediately going to Jetfire's side.

"Are you alright?!" He barked, helping the injured mech up-using his body as support for Jetfire to lean against.

"I'm fine. I can't fly but I'll be fine." The Seeker bit out, cringing. "Uuuh…"

* * *

"Uh…are you sure about this, 'Bolt?" Skydive asked nervously. "I mean, Jetfire could pull it off, but us…"

"We're at a lower orbit than how we were when we left." Silverbolt answered. "Plus we've got him on the locator beacon. If we move our afts now we can get down there!" His counterpart gulped, daring to look out the airlock door.

"Oh Primus…if you say so, 'Bolt."

"It'll be fine! " And with those words, Silverbolt shoved his gestalt partner out the airlock. The Calabi-Yau was set on autopilot and had its' cloaking device activated, so there was no fear of the humans finding out about them…below the planet or off it.

"I just hope we're not too late." He murmured. Steeling himself-he still had a tiny niggling fear of heights-the Aerialbot leader tossed himself out of the airlock.

"Aaaahhh!!"

* * *

The sound of metal tearing was music to his audio receptors. Ironhide roared as a plasma blast bit into his armor, but he didn't stop, not with the images floating through his processor.

_Nightfire screaming-dangling from Shockwave's grasp, wailing, reaching out to him-Optimus falling, a hole in his chest, over his spark-Chromia's silver-blue form motionless-hearing what Shockwave had in mind for his mate and his sparkling…_

The weapons specialist snarled. He had a score to settle-Chromia would be getting this bastard's CPU on a silver platter, and Nightfire would have that Pit-dammed yellow optic to play with as a marble.

"How does it feel now, you bastard?! Huh?!" This statement was punctuated with the scream of tearing metal as Ironhide savagely tore into Shockwave's chestplates. The Deception staggered backwards, systems struggling to compensate for the damage being inflicted.

_He's gone quite mad. _It had been bad enough that he had unfortunately had the experience of dealing with an angered mother femme, now he was dealing with an angered mech- an angry bonded mech to boot. _Well, I suppose the matter could be worse, I could have been dealing with Optimus Prime. _

And in the classic evoking of the phenomena the humans called 'Murphy's Law', Shockwave was able to free himself from Ironhide's brutal assault-only to watch clinically as an energy blade came flying down out of nowhere-slicing his gun clean away. His optic lifted, locked onto a familiar pattern of red and blue marked with flames, and barely suppressed fury flicking in crystal blue optics.

_Oh my. _Certainly he had anticipated the Autobot leader reengaging hostilities with him, but to face him and Ironhide at the same time? _It seems I have miscalculated. _There was no way he could get out of this alive, let alone continue with his plans. Even if he were to escape, he doubted that the Autobots could control their weapons specialist-not when they had just begun their battle. Then there was the matter of the sparkling-it was all but certain that the two femmes would not rest until he was dead, especially Chromia…The Decepticon scientist let his processor calculate the new variables as he automatically fought Ironhide and Optimus.

_The risk is too great. _He had…overstepped his limits, at this point it would be nearly impossible to get to the fragment of the AllSpark and the Autobot medic. _I have the dark core, and it is safe to say that Megatron will not be returning from the dead. _Surely there was no harm in retreating, to pursue his study of the artifact and build up his forces. Yes, that seemed to be the best alternative. There was a very high possibility that the Floatila survivors would get in contact with the Autobots, and with his spies scattered throughout the various galaxies he had visited; there would be no lack of useful information.

_Yes. That will work. _Summoning the last reserves of his strength-another miscalculation on his part, the two Autobots were truly angered- Shockwave transformed. But this time it wasn't the familiar cannon of his alt mode, no, this was something different, something that surprised the Decepticon scientist himself. And judging from the surprised cries of the Autobots, it was something that they hadn't expected either.

"-what the-"

"RUN!"

"You crazy-GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Then there was no sound save for the scream of plasma ripping though the air. Shuddering back into his original form, Shockwave looked around before activating an orbital jump, heading straight to his ship.

* * *

Silverbolt and Skydive were speeding across the Atlantic, up the Eastern Seaboard when the call came in. While the transmission was staticky, the two Aerialbots were able to comprehend the gist of the message.

_bbzzt-get up there-bzzzttt-Shockwave-bzzztt-orbital bounce-_

_That doesn't sound good. _Skydive transmitted.

_You're telling me. Let's get up there!_ Silverbolt responded. Activating their thrusters with a loud _**CRACK**_, the two jets altered their course to speed upwards, spiraling around each other in picture perfect 360s as they did so.

* * *

AN: http / img. photobucket. com /albums /v21/ yuna0707/ soundwave blueprints. jpg

Copy and paste this link and make sure you get rid of all the spaces, and you'll see what Shockwave turned into.

Also, the next chapter will be up Thursday night-Wens evening by the earliest. It'll be easier for me, because it's happily not any more action. /collaspe/


	48. Winding Down

AN: (waves) Hello all. Sorry for the late update, IRL took over and I wasn't able to post on Sunday like I wanted. In addition, I'm trying to map out the rest of _Sparks_ and the subsequent sequel (working title _Guns 'an Cyber-Roses_). Because of this, _Intimacy_ and_ System_ will be on slight hold while I get my ideas together.

As of now, _Sparks_ only has two chapters left. The story has gotten just too big for this fic alone. And in truth, _Guns 'an Cyber-Roses_ was the fic I originally wanted to write, but out of the ideas for it came _Sparks_...as _Sparks _is introducing some plot and characters for _Guns_.

Credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, Hearts of Eternity and VioletLight for letting me borrow a few of their ideas. 1/2 of the stuff in the fic is theirs, the other half is mine (including Nightfire). Use without permission and Frenzy crashes your computer. Also, if you still wish to see the image from last chapter, send me a PM and I'll give you the URL.

* * *

**_Winding Down_**

**_Three days after the fight in Canada_**

Secretary Keller looked at the pile of arms, legs, thrusters and wings sprawled out on one of Area 51's runways. The infamous base had been immediately cleared for the personal use of one Decepticon Seeker-well, two, Jetfire was an Autobot but he was out of commission-and the two Aerialbots. Optimus had ordered Silverbolt and Skydive to work with Thundercracker, seeing that the Seeker could provide extra support for them while they searched the skies (and space) for any sign of Shockwave.

"You gentleme- err, mechs need anything?"

"A nice warm bath." Silverbolt.

"High Grade would be nice." Skydive.

"These posers to get off me." Thundercracker, from the bottom of the pile. Groans came from the two Aerialbots, Skydive half-sparklingly shoving his Decepticon counterpart.

"I don't know about those requests but there's a tanker with some warm water over there and we've got some fuel arriving in a few minutes." Keller replied.

"That works." Silverbolt responded, pulling himself out of the pile and staggering over to the tanker. Twisting the pump, he aimed the ensuring blast of water at Skydive and Thundercracker.

"Up, get up." Thundercracker was the first to obey, pulling myself up and shuttering his optics in bliss as the warm water cascaded over his sore frame. Taking the hose, he aimed the spray at Silverbolt, who hummed with pleasure.

"Did you find anything?" Keller asked

"Not a damn thing." The Decepticon replied, wearily sitting on the ground and watching as Silverbolt went after Skydive with the hose. "Save for his base on the moon, there isn't anything left for us to track."

"But couldn't you follow him into deep space?"

"We could, but we don't know what little 'surprises' he left in his wake." Silverbolt responded, sitting down next to Thundercracker. "And at this point, Optimus has his hands full with the news we've brought so unfortunately, that bastard drops down low on the priority list." Here the Aerialbot sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Primus, I'm tired…" Keller could sympathize, three straight days of work nonstop could take a toll on anyone, human or alien.

"Why don't you take tomorrow off?" He suggested. "You've done all you can, get some rest before you head back to Autobot City? The boys here managed to fix up a spot for you all."

"That would be very nice." Silverbolt responded. "And I believe we will take you up on it."

"No idea about crackhead here but I'm game." Skydive said, grinning when Thundercracker gave him the finger.

"Frag you."

* * *

_**the next day**_

Ratchet was angry.

While this was relatively normal, there were actually levels (documented of course) of the Autobot CMO's wrath. Perceptor (as a joke) had likened the levels to the human scale used to measure the strength of hurricanes, with Category 1 being 'not so bad' and Category 5 being 'expect to be seeing Primus the minute your optics online'.

On this day though, records were being broken. The inhabitants of Autobot City (and more than likely Tranquility and the rest of Nevada) had been awoken by a primal scream of rage, terrifying in all its unleashed glory, the sound promising death, destruction, and many horrible things one dare not mention. The reason why for this unearthly sound?

Barricade had escaped the medbay. In recovery for the damage he had suffered during the battle with Shockwave, he left in the middle of the night for parts unknown.

Of course, Ratchet had not given him a clean bill of health. Legendary were the stories of the Hatchet's wrath when some fool Autobot dared to leave the medical bay without clearance. Pit, not even the **_Twins_ **dared to break that most sacred of unwritten rules (not since the Wrench Incident.) Not even Prowl or Optimus Prime dared to release themselves from the medical bay unless Ratchet gave his permission-and the one time Red Alert had disobeyed, well…

_Nobody_ had _**dared**_ step into the medical bay for nearly a lunar cycle.

So the end results of this current event? For starters, Barricade would have not long to live if Ratchet ever saw him again (of course that went without saying). The second was that without the proper and deserving recipient of his wrath to take their just desserts, all other occupants of the medical bay were now in the path of the vengeful god that they knew as Ratchet.

Current victim: Jetfire.

"YEOW!!"

"SHUT UP!" To this, Jetfire shuttered his optics and once again found himself praying-for the nightmare to end-or that Primus himself would show up and strike him down. Anything would be better than what he was suffering right now. Ratchet was currently at work replacing his turbine-muttering and cursing like a 'bot possessed. Hound and Mirage were staring at the scene, both praying that Ratchet would keep his attention on Jetfire and not come to them…

And safe from the confines of her playpen, Nightfire was clutching her plush cat and watching the goings-on with wide optics, a beacon of calm in the current Pit that was the medical bay. Chromia had given her to First Aid to watch, and the Protectorbot had set her in the playpen, hoping that maybe such cutness and innocence within range of the Hatchet would have a calming effect.

In fact, it would prove to have somewhat of an opposite effect.

"Ratchet, really-ow! You shouldn't-ow, ow, OW! Be acting-like-OWWWW!!"

"Shut the frag up or it'll hurt worse!" The yellow mech snarled.

"Think of the sparkling!" Jetfire bit out. "Nightfire's like a sponge! She's soaking up everything that you're saying!!"

"Frag!" The sweet little voice had every 'bot turning their heads to stare in horror at the little one who was uttering such profane words. "Frag! Slag! Pit sucker!"

"Oh Primus." Hound whispered.

"She sounds like a 'Con on cheap high-grade." Mirage moaned, shaking his head. Ratchet shot a look at the now giggling sparkling, then turned his attention back to Jetfire. The Seeker panicked, pulling himself away from the CMO.

"You're not going to do anything about that?!"

"She's Ironhide and Chromia's sparkling. She's bound to start cursing anyway. Better that than her squeaking she wants to blow up 'Cons. Now come here and take it like a mech!"

"No! Aaaahhh!! You fiend!!"

* * *

Barricade silently drove up the California coastline, unaware of the chaos he had unleashed at Autobot City. The interceptor had just wanted some time to himself, and the monotony of driving on California's highways provided a measure of comfort.

_Flamewar… _The Decepticon sighed, passing another car. There had been no response to the letter he'd sent out, and hearing about Shockwave's plans had only given him a chill in his spark. More than ever he wanted Flamewar next to him, with him-she could handle herself, but he would just feel better if he could protect her… So lost in his thoughts was he that he suddenly found himself fishtailing as a black and white motorcycle cut in front of him, police lights flashing.

_What the- The_ bike flashed its lights again before going behind Barricade and sounding its siren. _I wasn't over the speed limit and everything's working…_ Thanking Primus for having the presence of CPU to activate his hologram, Barricade obediently pulled over. If anything, perhaps the fleshing wanted to say hello-maybe share the local gossip.

_That's a Honda ST1300 PA. _The officer dismounted, taking off his-no, her helmet. _There's a few police departments around here that use those…if I could see their symbol, I'd know where the squishy is coming from. _Barricade rolled down his window, suddenly taking notice of his spark beginning to flutter. _Huh? Why am I feeling this way?_

"Hey you." The female fleshing said. "Seen anything strange around here?" Her ruby eyes passed over Barricade's form with a look of approval…waitabreem. _**Ruby**_?! Barricade felt his frame shudder uncontrollably as his spark started to go crazy, recognizing this feeling, picking up on a familiar song…

"_**Flamewar?!**_" A smile spread across the female officer's face.

"_**Catch me if you can, darling.**_" She purred huskily before disappearing, reforming on the bike. As Barricade gunned his engine Flamewar shot out ahead of him on the road, lights flashing and siren screaming. Growling with anticipation, the interceptor was quick to close the gap inbetween them, only to overshoot as the femme suddenly turned onto a side road, heading into a deserted canyon. As she disappeared from view Barricade transformed, fully intent on hunting down his mate the old-fashioned way.

"Flamewar?" He growled, entering the canyon. "You still like to play games too much-oommphhh!" For something had tackled him from behind, forcing him to the ground. The black and white growled again, rolling over and pinning his attacker beneath him.

"Listen here-" Then he was cut off as he was pulled down onto a warm frame, intense feelings of love/lust/longing overtaking him, sending all sane thought out of the window. He could hear Flamewar's spark crying out to his own, it'd been so long, and he'd been so lonely… Flamewar for her part was panting, eagerly digging her hands into and under her mate's armor, trying to press himself into his very core.

"Missed you." She whispered.

* * *

Frenzy slinked away from the computer console he'd been using to try and contact Barricade.

"Hehehheh! Bbbootycalll!!" Cackling crazily he skittered out of the control room, leaving a puzzled Bluestreak and an annoyed Prowl behind.

"What was that?" The gunner asked, pointing at the exit. Prowl sighed and shook his head, patting the younger mech on the shoulder.

"You don't want to know." His doorwings twitched. "I suppose I better go meet with Optimus…I really hate not following up on this Shockwave problem, but what Jetfire and the others brought is much more important."

"If it helps, Red Alert got more response to Optimus' message today." Bluestreak answered. "First Aid's gonna be real happy, the rest of the Protectorbots are on their way, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are probably not going to be happy, Tracks is with Brawn's minibot crew, and they're all coming."

"Oh Primus preserve me." Prowl muttered, imagining the Pit that would break loose. Sunstreaker and Tracks passionately hated each other, and then the gold twin and his ruby brother had issues with all the minibots. "Please tell me Inferno and Ultra Magnus are among this set. _Please_." He needed backup other than Red Alert. Bluestreak scanned the readout in front of him.

"No, sorry. Hot Spot says they had contact with another team though, he thinks it may have been Magnus. Do you want me to send them a message?" Prowl considered this question, and then shook his head.

"No. Let me meet with Optimus first, see what he says."

* * *

"If it was Ultra Magnus's team that the Protectorbots had contact with, then it's imperative that we also get in touch with him." Optimus said, handing Prowl a chip. "Theorizing on the information that Mirage gave us a while back, he more than likely has the rest of the officers with him, and possibly the remainder of the femme forces."

"Add that to the colonists and we've got a bit of a problem space wise…" Prowl mused.

"An' then we got th' 'Cons to deal with." Jazz added. "Barricade 'an Frenzy might have peaceful intentions, along 'wi Thundercracker, bu' wha' 'bout 'th others?"

"With Shockwave now independent and Starscream dead, that means the unofficial leader of the Decepticons is Soundwave." Prowl replied. "That might be a problem for us."

"Might be, might not." Jazz retorted.

"What do you mean by that?" Optimus asked, a frown crossing his faceplates.

"I did a 'lil bit of digging 'round in my memory banks and some of my 'ol files, with Floatila being brought up 'an all again." The saboteur answered. "An wouldn't you know, 'ol Soundwave spent quite a bit of time at Floatila. Most notably, half with Lunar and the other half with Starstorm, the 'Con leader."

"Soundwave with Lunar?! The _Primus Dawn_ faction leader-the largest neutral organization on Cybertron back then?!" The Autobot leader exclaimed. "Surely you're joking!"

"Hey, I had 'th same reaction too. But no lie-my informant confirmed it for me." Jazz said. "An to boot, he didn't report to Megs for at least two lunar cycles after the city was destroyed. Then he shows back up 'an it's business as normal."

"So you're saying based on that, there's a slim chance that Soundwave will be supportive of a peace treaty or the immediately negation of all hostilties." Prowl summarized.

"Hey, you never know."

* * *

AN: Credit for the 'cheap high-grade' line also goes to Karategal. It was too good to pass up!


	49. New Possibilities

AN: Well…after this, only one chapter to go. My apologies on not updating sooner, my allergies went to hell and decided to take me with them. (cringes) That wasn't a fun spring break I've had…

Anyway. As I've said before, the last chapter of Sparks draws near. Thank you ever so much once again for following along with me, your support and kind words have greatly touched me. But have no fear, the adventures are continuing on.

Originally the sequel to this fic was going to be _Guns and Cyber-Roses_, but after going over some of the plotholes I was going to leave hanging, I realized that I'd be cutting out a good part of the storyline. Namely the Decepticons, and how they settle in with the Autobots, and the storyline of one large mobile attack station…

So out of those ideas comes the follow up story to _Sparks_, called _Unholy Union_. _System of a Down_ will also be updated-but _Intimacy_ is still on hold while I sort out all these new ideas.

A big thank you goes to VioletLight for being my beta and helping me make sure I didn't fall into any plot holes…and also allowing me to use her awesome character Nightshade.

As usual, credit goes to Karategal, TheMoonlessNight, VioletLight and Hearts of Eternity for letting me borrow a few of their ideas. ½ of the stuff in the fic belongs to them, the other half belongs to me. Use without permission and Frenzy kills your computer.

I also don't own Transformers.

* * *

_**New Possibilities**_

**The next day**

**  
****Abus Vallis Canyon  
****Mars**

The pale yellow Seeker looked at her sky-blue counterpart.

"You tell her."

"No, you tell her."

"I'm not telling her."

"Well, somebody has to tell her."

"Tell me what?" At this both femmes jumped to attention, identical guilty looks on their faces. The new speaker-another femme- glared at the two jets, her red optics narrowing into slits.

"Well? Have you found Flamewar?" The sky-blue femme sighed and shook her head.

"She's gone, Commander." Then she cringed as a scream of profanity assaulted her audios.

"That bitch! I told her to stay, to wait until we got settled-until we have reinforcements and she fraggin' disobeys a direct order!" As the other femme yelled, the yellow Seeker tried to sneak away from her trinemate. "I see her again, her head's going on a fraggin' pole!"

"Flamewar: Will not reveal our location." At the familiar tone, the blue Seeker decided to follower her sister. "Barricade: center of her focus right now."

"Fraggin' horny little…" Soundwave smiled behind his mask and gently reached out to pull the irate femme into his arms.

"You: Happy for Flamewar." Nightshade scowled, but allowed herself to be pulled in.

"I would have let her go soon." She mumbled. "It's just important that we get settled in and prepared, in case the Autobots want to try something." Blowing out a puff of air though her vents, she looked up at the navy-blue mech. "Have you contacted Frenzy?"

"You: Interrupted start of transmission with your screaming."

"Sorry." Nightshade repeated. "Have you received any new reports?"

"Current status: Other Seekers have agreed to your terms; Skywarp is escorting them here. Motormaster: Not pleased with the news-may try to challenge." The matte-black femme smirked.

"Please. He wouldn't last a breem. How are our energy supplies?" Here Soundwave frowned behind his mask, his voice losing its' normal monotone.

"We have enough for now, but at some point we must consider building a new base…one that is closer to better energy sources." He answered. "Also, our…_guest-_" Here the word was pronounced as a slur- "needs help that requires supplies we do not have."

"I'm not worried about him right now." Nightshade responded. "I'm more worried about _her_. If we can't get to a proper source of Energon soon, then she'll…"

"Our sparkling: doing well for the moment." The navy mech said, reverting back to his monotone. "Worrying: Needless." Nightshade nodded, dragging in air though her vents. When she was around Soundwave, she could afford to let herself fret, something that she could not do in front of the other Decepticons…not if she wanted to keep her current position as Lady Protector.

"You're right." She shuttered her optics and then opened them again. "Who else is on Earth with Frenzy and Barricade?"

"Thundercracker."

"Thundercracker…" Nightshade repeated. An image of the two Seeker femmes came to her processor, more specifically the sky-blue femme that had just reported to her about Flamewar. "He was the one that Downpour picked…does she know if he's on Earth?"

"Negative."

"Good. I want to keep it that way for now-have either Buzzsaw or Laserbeak start watching her. Make sure you keep her busy-I don't want her pulling another Flamewar." Soundwave nodded.

"Request: Anything else?"

"Get started on any possible locations for us on Earth." Nightshade turned towards the window bank, ruby optics scouring the landscape outside. "I want us off this dustball as fast as possible."

* * *

"So what's gonna happen with the colonists?" Sideswipe asked. The Twins had snuck into the medical bay (Ratchet was away in an officers' meeting) to visit Nightfire. The little sparkling was currently sprawled out all over Sunstreaker's lap, clicking away to her stuffed cat.

"They're going to have to stay on Styxia for the moment-and when they do come, they will need to bring supplies so work can start on the moonbase Optimus originally wanted." First Aid replied. "We don't have enough space in Autobot City for them all-plus there was the matter of the Autobot commander there giving power back to Optimus, all the civilian issues…"

"A headache that's not needed right now." Sunstreaker interjected, making a face at Nightfire. The sparkling squealed and threw herself on his chest.

"Ratchet and the others are probably discussing what to do with the 'Cons now that Shockwave wants no part of them." Hound mused from his recharge berth. "If anything, this might be a chance to stop the fighting for good now."

"Like Decepticons ever want to stop fighting." Sunstreaker retorted. "The Pit'll freeze over before that happens."

* * *

"Really, the only one who could help us with Soundwave is Blaster." Prowl said. "Unfortunately, he's part of Ultra Magnus's team."

"Of whom we still can't find." Optimus murmured. "Not to mention, we don't know where the Decepticons are at this point. For all we know, there could be more on this planet, or nearby in the solar system."

"At least the Decepticon faction leader on Styxia is willing to be helpful." Prowl said.

"Helpful until she gives power over to the current Decepticon leader, of whom we're assuming may be Soundwave." Ironhide retorted. "That's a fight waiting to happen!"

"Calm down you trigger-happy lugnut." Ratchet growled. "Personally, I think there's something else we should be looking into, and letting this settle itself."

"The report that First Aid submitted to me on Floatila's records?" Optimus asked. Seeing the CMO nod, he continued. "It is disturbing that you couldn't fully access the records, and so I asked Prowl and Red Alert to try their clearances."

"And?"

"We couldn't get in." Prowl answered. "You're right, Ratchet. The femme leaders of Floatila locked away information regarding Shockwave and Soundwave-"

"Wait a minute. How did Soundwave get involved?" Ratchet interjected.

"We were trying to confirm Jazz's intel of Soundwave's time on Floatila, and we met with the same kind of lockout that came up whenever we tried to access information on Shockwave." Red Alert answered. "But we were able to at least clarify that Soundwave did spend a good amount of time with Lunar and Starstorm…not equally though. He visited Starstorm more than he did Lunar."

"That would make sense, because she was the Decepticon leader there." Elita said. "But I'll go to the Matrix saying this-every single one of them, _including_ Starstorm _**hated**_ Shockwave. They didn't want him near the place."

"The million-credit question is however, what did the Decepticon third-in-command want with a neutral faction leader?" Prowl asked. "And, did Megatron know about it?"

"I doubt that." Optimus said. "In fact, when it came to Floatila…based on what we now know about that core, Megatron may have not been in control of himself at all. That someone…or something else is responsible for that horror. But…until we have proof…" Elita put a comforting hand on her mate's arm.

"The blame will have to stay with Megatron for now, and that is where we will leave it for the time being." She said firmly. "Right now, it seems we may have a chance for negotiation-based on this old information. We've all seen examples of Soundwave acting for his personal interests during the war, and this just might be another one."

"Told 'ya." Jazz said triumphantly, leaning back in his seat. "Think 'bout it. Megs' third in command cozying up to the femme protector of every single Decepticon sparkling and the leader of the most powerful neutral faction. If 'tha ain't a recipe for something, I 'don know 'wha is!"

"You do realize that until we can actually physically confirm this with the Decepticons, it's still moot, right?" Prowl asked dryly. "And have you ever noticed that your theories sometimes seem to be based on who's recharging with whom?"

"Prowl, my mech, it's like that sometimes." The saboteur said confidently, putting his claws behind his head. "The humans have a good point-always look at 'th lovers first."

* * *

The meeting soon adjourned, and Ironhide went in search of Chromia, who had left to pick up Nightfire so she could give her lunch. The black mech found his two femmes seated on a window seat in their suite of rooms, Nightfire happily guzzling away Energon from her special cube while Chromia was careful to support her little back with a steadying hand. Ironhide smiled as he felt love and pride wash over him. Every time he saw his mate and sparkling together he felt as if he were seeing them for the first time, marveling at the blessing Primus had decided to give him. Even now he still didn't see himself worthy to guard such precious treasures…

"Somebody's greedy today." He noted, breaking the spell. Chromia looked up and smiled at him.

"She's developing your appetite." Ironhide smiled again, coming over to sit next to the little bundle of blue armor. Picking Nightfire up, he watched as the sparkling squeaked in surprise, and then decided to snuggle into the blazing fire that was his spark.

"To tell you the truth, I'm looking forward to more orns like this." He rumbled quietly. "Not having to fight all the time…just coming home to you and her."

"Don't tell me you're thinking about retiring?" Chromia asked in surprise.

"I wouldn't call it retiring." Ironhide replied, shifting Nightfire in his arms. "Just…slowing down for a while. I mean, it's a given that there are going to be some 'Cons that won't settle down peacefully, so there'll always be a few good fights around but…" Here he stroked his daughter's head. "Just…spending time with you and her." Chromia smiled.

"Well, I see your point." She whispered, leaning against Ironhide's side and curling into him when one black arm lifted up to wrap around her. "I mean…Nightfire does require our attention, then there's her training…and then there's the 'Cons you said that wouldn't settle down…"

"Exactly." Ironhide purred. "If anything, we could…maybe allow ourselves to fully…relax when she's older."

"Letting her carry on the family tradition?"

"Yeah." Nightfire squeaked in contentment, her optics starting to shutter closed. Ironhide continued. "After all…the universe is vast. Nobody, not even our race, has started to explore it fully yet. All the possibilities…the new adventures…"

"Awaiting a younger generation to tackle them all?" Chromia whispered. Ironhide rumbled in pleasure as she started to run a hand over his chest chassis. "I suppose that's a good thing worth slowing down for." She closed her optics as the black mech pressed a kiss to her foreplate, hearing the soothing pulse of his spark lull her into a half-recharge. Ironhide smiled, looking down at his mate and daughter.

"I get the feeling you're going to be even more trouble than me." He said, watching as Nightfire curled up into a little ball. "But that's alright. After all…the best things happen when somebody causes trouble."

* * *

AN: In the final chapter...Nightfire soon gets a little playmate.


	50. Life

AN: I have nothing to say for how late this chapter has been coming. Real life decided to intrude, and then I systematically got sick and stressed out, so I could only write out this chapter in bits and pieces over the past couple of weeks. But today I buckled down, and here is the end result-because I just _wanted_ to update. Feel free to stone me if you wish. (cringe)

I just want to say, thank you ever so much again to all the reviewers-all 800+ of you. You've helped me and given me a lot of encouragement, and I feel honored that you would hang around for so long to read my ideas. (bow) Special thanks go to Karategal, TheMoonlessKnight, Hearts of Eternity, VioletLight, Litahatchee, Melora Maxwell, and LandrayDepthCharge for letting me play with their ideas. It goes without saying 1/2 of the stuff in the fic belongs to them, but the other half is mine-including Nightfire and now Artemis. Use without proper permission and Frenzy does get to send presents to your computer. (Credit of the term newspark also goes to Violet)

As for continuations..._Unholy_ will be on hold-Violet and I have to get our ideas sorted together, so _Guns and Cyber-Roses_ will be starting immediatly after this story, along with new updates to _System_ and maybe _Intimacy_. I also have a few oneshots in mind as well.

A big thank you to Lita for betaing this chapter, and once again I offer my apolgizes for how late this chapter was in coming.

* * *

**_Life_**

_**One year following the events in Canada**_

_**Cybertropolis, Cybertron**_

Things were going very well, Shockwave mused as he leaned back in his chair, watching a monitor. His decision to retreat had been the right one, for it had given him several fresh…opportunities to refine his methods and goals. Unfortunately they had to be kept generalized, but there were one or two projects that would require his personal touch soon.

_I will have to be careful. _For the Autobots had ensured that what remained of their forces and the colonists knew of his plans, it was now officially impossible to go near any Autobot base. Of his former faction…he had very little information.

_If anything, that must be Soundwave's doing. Him or maybe one of his symboites. _Shockwave turned his head, optic focusing on another monitor. _Logically-the Decepticons should be in more dire straits, as there were no femmes left at all among them. But now I wonder… _His optic flicked back to several datapads on the desk nearby. While going though some old files several orns ago, he had come across Hook's data on the number of dead femmes, younglings, and sparklings following the attack at Floatila. The Decepticon CMO had been tasked with providing the gruesome data to Megatron, and Shockwave hadn't looked over it at the time. But now, revisiting those old files…

_The numbers seem to add up too perfectly. The Decepticon femmes were equal in power to the Autobot femmes-and they were more scattered about. Even at their fastest, the teams still took a while to get to each and every territory within Decepticon borders. _The more he had thought about it, the more the new theory that was being presented to him made sense. Somehow in all the chaos, a good number of Decepticon femmes had escaped…and the Constructions had helped.

_That explains why the numbers tallied up so perfectly, and the reason for the Constructions keeping their distance from the main forces for a long time afterwards. They knew that there were surviving Decepticon femmes-warned them, helped them escape, and made sure nobody ever found out. _Several small drones skittered about Shockwave as he lifted a hand to his faceplates.

_I must tread carefully. For now, I will have to focus on what I have at the moment. Perhaps an opportunity will arise…_

* * *

**_Earth  
Autobot City, Medical Bay_**

Ratchet muttered darkly under his breath as he gently laid out a sparkling frame-freshly created from Perceptor's lab.

"You think you two could have given me any warning, hmm? At least Ironhide and Chromia were nice enough to tell me shortly before the blessed event, so I had time to prepare!!" His audience cringed slightly, pulling a small blanket even closer to her frame.

"It…it was an accident!"

"You do know once Sideswipe hears this, you…well, you'll live it down, but not him." The yellow medic grumbled, starting to run his own set of scans and checks on the tiny frame in front of him. "And I assume that your first sparkling is being informed of this happy event right now?" Elita winced away from Ratchet's temper, but looking down at the soft glow hidden in the blanket her body relaxed, all her attention focusing on the new little life she held in her arms…

_I have a sparkling. _The rose-colored femme was afraid to voice her thoughts, afraid that she was in a good dream that would end all too quickly if she did anything. _I sparked….I have a sparkling… _Ratchet opened his mouthplates to very rudely snap Elita out of her daze, but seeing the look in her optics he quieted. This was another reward he'd felt that was long in coming to both Optimus and Elita.

_It'll be good to have another sparkling around here. _He thought. _Frankly, both Optimus and Bumblebee need something other than work and Decepticons to fret over._

* * *

Optimus on the other hand found himself in a state that closely resembled Red Alert when the Security Director was about to fry his circuits.

_It was an accident… _But it'd been a good accident, and it had been something he and Elita were considering…he just hadn't expected it to happen so suddenly.

_I can blame Ratchet for this-I think…no! Somehow this is his fault! _He Autobot leader found himself torn between pride, worry, and shock-and it wasn't helping matters that Bumblebee was just staring at him. Not that he could blame the yellow mech, if Optimus had been in his position, he'd be staring too…

Bumblebee blinked, his processor slowly going over the words he just heard. The yellow mech found that he wasn't angry or upset; he just needed to make sure his audios weren't malfunctioning.

_Bumblebee…you have a sibling._

Now certain that everything was functioning properly, the scout blinked and looked at his Creator, noticing the worried light in Optimus' optics, the tenseness of his frame, and the maelstrom of emotions that were twisting his spark via their bond.

And then to the Autobot leader, Bumblebee did something very strange. He let loose a high-pitched series of squeaks and clicks, throwing his arms around Optimus.

"Congratulations! Can I see? Where's Elita?!" Now it was Optimus' turn to try and process what his audios had just heard-was Bumblebee actually happy? Pulling away, he surveyed the yellow mech warily.

"You're…you're not upset?"

"How could I be?!" Bumblebee answered, throwing his arms about the massive red and blue mech again.

"But…I thought…"

"Do you know how long I've wanted a little brother or sister? I mean, well, Nightfire's sweet, but she belongs to Ironhide and Chromia and I was hoping that you and Elita would-can I see them? Do you know if it's a mech or a femme? I-yow!!" Bumblebee found himself being cut off as a pair of red and blue arms reached up to crush him in a bear hug, and something that sounded like a shaky sob was picked up by his audios.

"Oh Primus, I thought…I thought you'd be angry with us. It was an accident, we just-"

"I don't need to hear that!" Bumblebee interjected, pushing away from Optimus and wriggling out of his grip. "I don't want to hear the details, thank you!" This brought a small smile to the Autobot leader's faceplates, watching as the younger mech shuddered at the idea of him and Elita engaging in…activities.

"I'm still trying to figure out how it happened myself." This statement had Bumblebee's head whipping around to stare at Optimus as if to say 'are you malfunctioning?' "Well, I know how it happened, it's just…" Optimus found he truly didn't have any words to describe his situation, sparking by-well; _accident_ was a rare occurrence among their species.

_It's Ratchet's fault. _Somehow-just somehow, he _**had**_ to blame his old friend. After all, he and Elita had been kicked out of Autobot City for a second 'honeymoon' on the CMO's orders. _And if the others find out…Oh Primus, I'll never hear the end of it…_ Optimus' musings were broken as Bumblebee started to pull on his arm.

"Can we go see?!"

* * *

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the instigator of this event." Ratchet remarked dryly as Optimus and Bumblebee entered the medical bay. The yellow scout made an immediate beeline for the table where the little frame lay. The CMO had his hands full with the softly glowing spark, Elita hovering anxiously by his shoulder. "I thought we were going to have to online this little one without you."

"This is your fault." Optimus muttered, his own spark skipping a pulse at seeing his new creation's own still out in the open.

"My fault? Pray tell, how is this _my _fault? I'm not the one who has the bonded mate and a little femme, mind." Here Ratchet smirked as Optimus and Bumblebee both came to a standstill, and Elita uttered a squeak of surprised.

"F…F…Femme?" The Autobot leader finally stammered out. Elita joined him at his side, her optics locking onto that tiny flickering ball of light.

"I have a sister?" Bumblebee whispered, watching as Ratchet gently started to insert the spark into the tiny frame on the medical table. Ratchet smiled, pausing to shoot Bumblebee a glance. This would be the younger mech's first time watching a newspark online.

"Congratulations." Watching as the spark settled into its case-not with the violent reaction that had been with Nightfire, thank Primus- Ratchet deftly closed the sparkling's chassis. Immediately turning his attention to the console alongside the bed, he started to monitor the readouts as the sparkling started to activate, allowing Optimus, Elita, and Bumblebee to crowd around the berth.

* * *

Bumblebee watched in awe as the sparkling slowly started to move, little fingers curling and uncurling-feet flexing. Never had he imagined that something could be so tiny-he was used to Nightfire, but this…this was something different.

"Little one?" He heard Elita whisper, the rose colored femme reaching out to gently touch the sparkling on the head. The rose-colored femme was trembling slightly, her fingers softly tracing the lines of the sparkling's frame. "Wake up, sweetheart…"

After what seemed like ages to Bumblebee, but in reality were only a few minutes, the sparkling's optics slowly opened, the blue orbs flickering to life. At this Elita muffled a small sob, clinging to Optimus, who embraced her back.

"Sssh..." He whispered. At the sound, the sparkling turned her head, searching for the source of the noise, and her little optics met Bumblebee's own. Instantly the yellow scout felt his spark stop, and then fall…

"Hey." He whispered, reaching out and watching as the sparkling touched his hand, clicking in curiosity. "I'm your big brother." He could feel a curious tugging at his spark...it recognized the little being in front of him, and was trying to establish a bond with it. "I'm your big brother…"

To this, the sparkling clicked. She didn't understand what was going on, but she sensed warmth and love coming from the sparks around her. This strange 'bot in front of her…there was something strange about him, but his spark felt so nice… Trying to get closer, she slowly crept over to Bumblebee, who gently picked her up in his arms.

"Wow…" He whispered, watching as his little sister pressed an audio against his chest chassis, listening to the beat of his spark. "She's…she's real." Glancing up at Optimus, he came over to the Autobot leader and his mate. "She's real…"

* * *

Optimus found he couldn't say anything as he reached out and took the tiny frame in his hands, cradling it close to his chest chassis-watching as those tiny blue optics blinked up at him, as if to ask 'who are you?' His spark threatened to explode from the surge of emotions roaring inside of it…after Bumblebee, he had been certain that he would never feel this away again.

"Hello little one." He whispered, tears threatening to fall from his optics. He could _feel_ his daughter's spark as she snuggled close into his chest. He was in awe at the sheer power it held, how could something so small and delicate be so full of life? The sparkling's spark latched onto his, surrounding it with unconditional love.

_Primus, did I really create this? _Had he truly sparked this little miracle with Elita? He couldn't have, not for something this beautiful… The sparkling clicked again, curling up into a small ball and burrowing in as possible to that strong spark. She knew she would be loved and protected as long as this spark was near. Optimus shuttered his optics, silently vowing to Primus to protect the second little life that was in his keeping, grateful to be blessed with such a wonderful gift…

"I love you." He murmured, opening his optics and gently caressing his daughter's head. "Never forget that, my darling."

"And I love you too." Bumblebee said, putting his hand on top of Optimus's own. He looked up at the Autobot leader, his optics shining with love. "We've got the best family in the whole universe." To this Optimus had no reply but to pull Bumblebee into an embrace with him and Elita, his spark swelling with love and pride.

"We need to name her." Elita whispered as she reached out and took the sparkling from Optimus's arms, her spark silently crying for joy as the sparkling snuggled into her frame.

"We should." Optimus murmured. "What can we call you, little one?" Bumblebee racked his processors for a moment; there had been a name Mikaela had mentioned the other day…

"Artemis." He suddenly said. "Let's call her Artemis." Optimus and Elita looked at him, and then down at the sparkling.

"Artemis…yes." Elita answered. "You like that name, don't you?" In reply the sparkling clicked, looking up at her mother. "I think she does."

"Trying to give her a function?" Optimus whispered, a smile crossing his faceplates. "Artemis…our little huntress?" Bumblebee was quick to search the Internet for the name's meaning-Artemis had been an ancient human goddess of hunting.

"It sounds nice." He answered.

"I like it." Optimus said. "Artemis…the newest member of our family." He turned his attention to Ratchet, who had been busying himself with fooling around with the console. "Ratchet, I…"

"No need for thanks, it's my job." Was the more-than usual gruff reply. "Though it would behoove you-the next time you and Elita spark overnight, _**not **_to run in here like a crazed idiot, yelling at the top of your vocalizer the next orn."

"I have to go tell Sam and Mikaela." Bumblebee said; his optics bright with excitement. "I'll be right back!" He sprinted out of the medical bay, transforming the minute the doors shut behind him.

"Nightfire's probably going to be happy that she'll have a proper playmate now." Ratchet said as he came over, starting to run a series of scans on the still-clicking Artemis. "And I also sense you're probably going to get dragged off-you and Ironhide both for a very long overdue tradition…"

"If you lot even think about 'toasting the newspark' Chromia and I will make you regret it." Elita threatened, cradling Artemis even closer to her.

"Considering how she was created-" Then Ratchet grinned as Optimus' optics narrowed.

"If you say one word, you will suffer." He rumbled.

"You would have had the gold, silver, and bronze medals if you'd gotten her on the very first time around on the first honeymoon." Ratchet cracked, chuckling. "And you know it's going to get around…"

"No, it's not." Optimus growled. "That will stay between the three of us, and if I hear anyone _ever_ mention it, I know exactly who I will go after."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Ratchet said, pointing behind Optimus and Elita. The couple turned around…

And there was Sideswipe, optics wide, jaw hanging open, staring at the Autobot leader and his mate. As Optimus watched in a mild sort of horror, the Red One closed his mouthplates, a gleam entering his optics as his processor fully realized the havoc he could officially cause…and not be blamed for it…

"HEY EVERYONE!!" He bellowed as he made a fast beeline for the exit. "YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!!"

"_**SIDESWIPE!!"**_ Optimus roared. "GET BACK HERE!!" Ratchet found himself starting to laugh as the Autobot leader chased the Red Lambo twin out of the medical bay, Elita looking on as Artemis curled up into a little ball in her arms.

_Heh, by the time he can catch up, Sideswipe will have broadcasted it all over the city. _The yellow CMO smiled as he picked up the blanket Elita had brought Artemis's spark in. From the way the situation looked, things were about to get interesting…again.

_And I wouldn't have it any other way._

* * *

AN: There is a poll on my profile page regarding Nightfire and her new playmate..._Guns and Cyber-Roses_ is the story that is mentioned in it.

And 'toasting the newspark' is an Autobot tradition...in which the new mech creator is dragged to a bar by his friends and well...(grin) trouble ensues. And yes, there **_will_** be a oneshot on this incoming.


End file.
